Two-Michelin-starred Winteringham Fields has won its battle to be classed as a restaurant with rooms rather than a hotel.
Annie and Germain Schwab's acclaimed Lincolnshire restaurant faced a massive hike in its business rates after the Valuations Office Agency claimed the restaurant's
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Germain and Annie
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seven on-site rooms constituted a hotel.
Traditionally, restaurants have their values calculated by floor space, but values for hotels are calculated from receipts. This left the Schwabs facing a jump in annual business rates last September of £27,500, to £39,000.
The business, which opens for only five days a week and rents its bedrooms purely to diners, needed to employ property agent Christie & Co to get the classification reversed at a tribunal hearing.
Annie Schwab said: "We have built something in a rural location that would not have previously made the council any money, but because we bring in people from around the world, they make us pay for it."
She implored operators in the same situation to get professional advice. "You need someone on your side that isn't afraid to challenge decisions."
Tony Dan, head of rating at property agent CB Richard Ellis Hotels, said a lack of consistency when calculating business rates was common.
"If the officer is doing their job, whatever valuation system they adopt, they should always ask themselves if the increase is sensible.
"If operators believe it unfair, they should appoint a professional to take their grievance to tribunal, as this has been a very successful tactic in the past," he said.
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 17 February 2005