Family attractions and indoor play centres should receive the same business rates relief as pubs and music venues, according to the MD of an inflatable manufacturer, following the Chancellor’s autumn Budget.
Antony Sutton, Group Managing Director of Airquee, has called on the government to extend its planned 20% business rates cut for pubs, clubs and music venues to soft play centres, inflatable parks and other family entertainment businesses.
The Budget, delivered during the October half-term holiday, included measures aimed at easing the financial pressures on hospitality venues. However, Sutton believes family attractions have been overlooked despite playing an equally important role in bringing communities together.
“Because they do the same job for families that the pub does for adults,” Sutton said.
“On a wet afternoon in half term, the soft play centre is where parents go to grab a coffee and have a chat while their children burn off energy.
“Families need somewhere to go as well. We all love our local pubs and want to see them thrive, but they aren’t the only places where people connect. Family attractions are just as important, and they deserve that exact same level of support.”
The Budget’s changes to business rates include raising the small business rate relief threshold from £12,000 to £18,000, potentially allowing smaller soft play centres to pay no business rates. Sutton welcomed the change but warned that it would offer limited support to many larger family entertainment businesses.
Airquee supplies inflatable attractions to leisure operators around the world, many of which run from larger industrial and commercial units that fall above the revised relief threshold. For these businesses, the measures will prevent business rates from increasing faster than inflation for two years, but will not result in an actual reduction in their bills.
“The Budget will mainly help the smallest play centres. Raising the small business rate relief threshold from £12,000 to £18,000 means smaller-sized soft play centres could pay no rates at all, and that’s a welcome change,” Sutton said.
“But many of the inflatable parks and family entertainment centres we supply run from large units that sit above that line. It stops their rates from rising faster than inflation for two years, but doesn’t actually lower them.”
The concerns come as family attractions face pressure from households becoming increasingly cautious about discretionary spending. Sutton said families were having to think more carefully about the cost of days out, with household energy bills adding to the financial strain.
“I don’t think families necessarily want to spend less on experiences. I think they simply have less money available to do so,” he said.
He believes extending the business rates reduction to family attractions would provide an immediate boost to operators, while also helping to protect affordable leisure activities for households.
Sutton also called on the government to consider a reduced VAT rate for family leisure attractions, pointing to the benefits previously associated with the reduced 5% rate.
“The quickest win would be giving family attractions the same rates cut that pubs are getting,” he said.
“The previous reduced 5% rate showed the benefit of lower VAT, and I’d like to see consideration given to a reduced rate for family leisure attractions.”
The call highlights wider concerns about the pressures facing leisure operators, with rising operating costs and constrained household spending threatening the viability of businesses that provide recreational facilities for families.
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