The biggest winner from the business rate revamp is firms in Copeland – the borough at the heart of a by-election war

THE BIGGEST council winner in the radical revamp of business rates is COPELAND – the borough at the heart of a by-election war.

Rates specialists CVS today said the property values used to set rates have plunged by over 12% in the Cumbrian region since 2010 – the highest fall of any council.

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This means that over the five years of the new tax regime, the 2,374 businesses in Copeland will pay £814,423 less in tax a year – a £4.1million saving.

CVS said it was an annual real term cut of 1.85 per cent every 12 months. This compares with a £24 million or 84 per cent increase in rateable values in West Somerset.

Mark Rigby, CEO of CVS says: “The new rating list is a good bit of news for businesses in Copeland.

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“The previous business rates assessments took effect just as the financial crisis turned the property market on its head.

“That meant that over the last seven years, businesses in Copeland have effectively been paying more than they should have been."

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The analysis comes just hours after Theresa May visited Copeland in a bid to seal the by-election success for local Conservative candidate Trudy Harrison.

Its set to spark yet more controversy for a Government engulfed in a row over a huge rates shake-up this April.

Ministers are adjusting rates in England and Wales based on the change in property values since 2010.

This has meant firms in areas such as London and the South East face a steep hike in rates. But pub lobbyists claim a boozer in Stoke city centre faces a FOUR-FOLD increase.

The Sun revealed yesterday internet giant Amazon will benefit from a rates cut at its nine mammoth distribution centres.