Rates reform would be best model for regeneration, says Wick businessman
A Wick businessman has spoken out over "extortionate" rates imposed on retailers, arguing that the system needs to be reformed if town centres are to see an upturn in their fortunes.
Sam Salim insisted that cutting the rates bills for businesses in the most prominent High Street locations would be "the best model for regeneration".
Describing passing trade as "a thing of the past", he said: “The more shops that are open, the more reason people have to come onto the street, so one thing will instigate the other.”
Mr Salim runs SAMS (Sofas and More Sofas) Furniture Ltd at 88-90 High Street, opposite Market Square, and has other premises further down High Street at number 118.
His main store is adjacent to the most high-profile disused building in Wick – the former Woolworths store and Original Factory Shop which shut in 2018.
Businesses pay rates based on a proportion of rateable value. The old Woolworths building at 82-86 High Street has a rateable value of £25,250, effective from April this year, according to the Scottish Assessors Association's online portal.
Mr Salim believes it is "essential" for the empty store to be occupied before it becomes derelict.
He said: “I'm in a very prominent part of the town, so my rateable value is higher than others. Woolworths is a larger building in the same area so the rates on Woolworths are higher than ours.
“So there are more obstacles for a potential tenant of that building than maybe you can see on the face of it. It's not just the rent, and the heat, and the electric, and the wages, but those rates... it is extortionate.
“There is a Small Business Bonus Scheme where if your rateable value is under £12,000 you can claim up to 100 per cent off.
“Buildings to my left and buildings to the right, past M&Co, are applicable. But not these stores, the larger stores in the most prominent part of the town, where there's lots of footfall – or there was, 20 or 30 years ago.
“So there are more obstacles in front of retailers than people really see. If that place didn't have rates, I'm more than confident it would be occupied.
“High streets have changed, they've evolved. They are tipping in favour of online these days.
“High street stores have to be so diverse to encourage people to go in through their doors. I think if there was a rates reform – if they were abolished, potentially, or if the discount was applicable to all stores – we would see more open than close."
He added: “This is not a Wick problem, this is a national issue."
Mr Salim hasn't raised his concerns with politicians. “Maybe I should, maybe I should bang the drum," he said.
"I run two large stores on the High Street in addition to another company. My time is all tied up.
“It's also a Catch-22 because I hear that Highland Council is strapped for cash.
“How do you cut away a revenue stream? Possibly it doesn't need to be cut away, but it probably needs to be reformed to encourage any kind of business into the High Street. That would be the best model for regeneration.
“How do we repurpose the stores? They don't want non-commercial [use] in lower levels of the High Street, which makes a lot of sense – you can't have a house there. But if a person owns it and it's too expensive to retail out of, what do you do with these buildings?
“That [pointing to the former Woolworths store] is going to be a prime example. If nobody occupies that property within the next five years I think we're going to see another Dounreay Club, and that's heartbreaking for the town."
The former Dounreay Club in Breadalbane Crescent was a cinema before being turned into a social club, which closed in 2007. Mr Salim had considered making use of the Dounreay Club before seeing its deteriorating condition.
He said: “It was left empty for years, it developed a small hole in the roof, that hole got larger and larger, it destroyed the upper level floor, and essentially it's now a derelict building that nobody will touch.
“We repurposed the Territorial Army hall [in Dempster Street] as warehousing for our store here, but the Dounreay Club was a thought. I like to bring old buildings back to life.
“We have another company, Caithness Luxury Apartments, and every property in that was derelict or long-term empty.
“There's nothing worse than an old building that's closed and all boarded up and the roof has gone."
Mr Salim has plans to create holiday lets in the upper levels above SAMS.
"I think our town is beautiful, I do," he said. "Maybe investing in people, investing in the stores, looking at the rates, trying to encourage people to occupy these stores in the first instance would then encourage people onto the street.
"There is no reason for people to come onto the street at this point in time. Passing trade is a thing of the past. I'm fortunate enough that we've got a large customer base – people come in to us because they've dealt with us in the past, so we have a lot of return customers."
Asked whether he felt the old Woolworths building was at risk, he said: "I'm not a builder, but like I said – the Dounreay Club should be warning for anybody, if it is not maintained. It will come to a point if there is any kind of structural problem with the roof, if there is any damage, it won't be cost-effective for anybody to take on that property.
"Then we've got a massive issue. So having somebody occupying that property, having a reason to maintain that property, is essential for Wick."
In 2019 an open day at the former Original Factory Shop gave businesses, community groups and interested individuals a chance to see inside and consider potential future uses for the building, although nothing has come of it. The proprietor is listed by the Scottish Assessors Association as Delucys Ltd, whose registered office is in Kent.