THE DISGRUNTLED owner of Rugby’s Willy Wonka-style High Street attraction is to temporarily close it down because of an ongoing dispute over ‘unfair’ business rates.
Yum Yum World will shut up shop in January after revealing that its rateable value, as set by the government, is £139,000 – over £30,000 more than the larger Poundland store on the same street.
It means Yum Yum pays £70 in tax per square metre – double the rate charged to Poundland.
Co-owner Simon Hawker told The Observer he had been in dispute with the government’s Valuation Office Agency (VOA) since the business opened just over a year ago.
He said: “Their appeal system doesn’t work. You have to prove why you should have a lower rateable value – and we’ve proved it.
“Their managers have acknowledged that it looks like we’re overpaying, but they’ve done nothing about it.
“They’re taking money off us that we could use to spend on our attraction.”
He said the business, which has welcomed 130,000 visitors, is only commercially viable because he and two other family members don’t take wages – adding that his dream of reinvesting to help revitalise the town centre is being held back by the disproportionate rates.
“We want it to be jaw-dropping,” he said. “We want it to be like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, and to put a Lazer Quest on the first floor, but I can’t do that if I can’t reinvest.
“Six new businesses have opened up around us. Greggs takes an extra £2,000 a week because we’re there. We’re keeping those shops going and increasing footfall in the town centre.
“High streets are dying, so we figured we should have an attraction in town instead of out-of-town. It’s about regenerating the community.”
He said he was so fed up with the dispute that he decided to close for a few weeks and see what happens.
“It’s not permanent,” he added. “After the response we’ve had, the people of Rugby obviously want us to be there.”
An online petition to save the store – which features a soft play area and a sweet shop – gathered over 200 signatures in the first 24 hours.
Petition starter Rachel Jayne said: “People wonder why our town centre is emptying out or filling with charity shops and coffee chains, yet the greed of the government is pricing businesses out.”
Rugby’s MP Mark Pawsey has written to the VOA to urge a rethink over Yum Yum’s business rates, and expects a response by the end of this week.
He said: “I am fully supportive of the case which has been put forward.
“I am pressing the VOA for a swift resolution which will enable the business to continue to serve the people of Rugby.”
