The north-east’s “kilted chef” has lashed out a 150% increase in his business rates bill – warning independent enterprises could vanish if the changes come into effect.
Craig Wilson last night revealed the rise was the equivalent of increasing a four-course meal at Eat on the Green from £49 to £150 – or laying off a senior member of staff.
Mr Wilson opened the restaurant in Udny Green 13 years ago, and it is now one of Aberdeenshire’s most popular eating destinations.
But as of April 1, he will be expected to pay 150% – or £2,000 – more towards his business rates bill every month.
The award-winning chef last night claimed it felt like “nobody cares” about the plight businesses across the north-east are facing.
And he warned businesses that have been “organically grown” in the area may disappear if the changes are put into effect, with the increases spreading “negativity” throughout the north-east economy.
Mr Wilson, who will be appealing his bill, said: “We have always had a can-do attitude. I don’t want to become bitter and twisted. But we are not going to get businesses to be at their best under doom and gloom and restrictions.
“It is almost just like nobody cares and this is what happens.”
He is the latest business owner to criticise the independent revaluation of Scottish business rates, which has left north-east firms facing vastly higher fees.
The proposed changes to rateable values was based on an assessment of the north-east’s booming economy in 2015 – before the slump in the oil and gas sector.
Mr Wilson said the huge rise would hit the restaurant so badly, a worst case scenario would be laying off a senior member of staff in order to get by, or reviewing dinner pricing structures.
Four-course dinners, currently priced at about £49 at the venue, would be £147.50 in order to match the new bill.
Mr Wilson said: “A 150% increase is a lot and I don’t understand anybody’s rationale for that. I feel really quite saddened by it.
“There has never been a more important time to encourage passion and creativity in food and hospitality in the north-east of Scotland.
“Businesses are saying ‘you can’t do this’. If you increase the rates like this there is going to be negativity and job losses. I can’t understand the rationale at all.”
Earlier this week Stewart Spence, owner of the five-star Marcliffe Hotel and Spa at Pitfodels, revealed he was refusing to pay the increase.
And although Aberdeen City Council’s finance convener Willie Young could not support the move, he claimed the business rates were the “SNP’s poll tax”.
He said: “What we should all remember about the SNP is that they had a campaign against the poll tax where they told people not to pay and in the end wrote off the debt.
“It’s important that people pay their taxes of course but it’s also important that people aren’t ripped off.
“This is the SNP’s poll tax.”
However, Calum Richardson, owner of the Bay Fish and Chips in Stonehaven, threw his support behind Mr Spence’s stance yesterday.
Though he does not predict a huge rise in his own bill due to the size of his business, he said: “He is taking a stance and not only just for him. At the end of the day you want to see the whole of the Aberdeenshire area buoyant and thriving, not struggling with something they shouldn’t be struggling with.”