Why brewer and publican Will Lees-Jones is going into battle with government
Sixth generation brewer and publican William Lees-Jones is appealing directly to Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the changes to Business Property Relief (BPR) which he says will be “devastating” for JW Lees.
“I’m told that Rachel Reeves is not for turning and has gone missing in Westminster which is why I have called on the Prime Minister to intervene and to hold a formal consultation on Business Property Relief to hear from family business owners and to give consideration to ideas that will raise additional funds for the Treasury whilst protecting family businesses.”
He told TheBusinessDesk.com: “I am happy to pay any taxes on exit but, for as long as we are keeping the business in the family, to pay tax on share transfer means robbing the company so that we cannot invest or create jobs and this put the family business sector in a position where there is an existential threat to our very existence and certainly unable to compete with private equity and plc’s.”
He says the existential threat to family businesses in the UK has given him no choice but to step up as a leading spokesman for the sector on this campaign.
He said: “People like to work for a family business. I was reminded of this when I met with colleagues this week to talk about what changes we need to make at JW Lees. Family businesses are the bedrock of UK business and so much good has come out of the family business sector.
“Sir James Wates, the outgoing Chair of Family Business UK (FBUK), led the Wates Principles which provide a framework to help large private companies raise their standards of corporate governance by offering a structure for reporting to fulfil their legal requirements and demonstrate good practice.
“Steve Rigby, the incoming Chair of FBUK, points out that UK private businesses play a critical role in funding charitable initiatives, often outpacing their larger corporate counterparts. According to figures compiled by the Sunday Times and the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), which tracks the philanthropic activity of more than a third of Britain’s 350 wealthiest people, the top 100 individuals and families gave away £3.2 billion last year. Meanwhile, corporate giving from the FTSE 100 totalled £1.85 billion during the same period.”
In a letter to Graham Stringer MP, Lees-Jones said that he was happy to ‘suck it up’ and pay the increased National Living Wage and increased Employers National Insurance Contributions in order to pay for public services, but that the changes in Business Property Relief represent a very real threat to the very existence of JW Lees as a family company.
“I hope that you can see that Oldham is weaker without the likes of Ferranti and British Aerospace already and that to lose another significant employer would weaken the town.”
JW Lees has filed accounts for the year to 31st March 2024 with revenues up 9% at £95.8m (+£8.3m) and pre-tax profit up 104% to £7.1m. In the previous year to March 2023 pre-tax profit was down by 56% from £8.1m to £3.5m owing to a number of reasons including the cost of energy, significantly reduced government support and increased levels of investment in the business.
