In a busy first few days in office, latest announcement sees the prime minister Andy Burnham confirm 20% cut in business rates from April 2027 for pubs, social clubs and smaller live music venues, benefiting around 32,000 businesses and costing £100m a year.

The measure will only apply to venues in England, not the rest of the UK as business rates are devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This reduction is on top of the earlier 15% discounted rate for these premises announced by the previous chancellor Rachel Reeves at last autumn’s Budget.

Announcing the measure, the PM’s office said the discount would ‘provide much-needed certainty for businesses looking to invest, grow and create jobs’. It will exclude the ‘very largest live music venues’ but further details are not available yet.

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