Rating and Valuation (S.I., 2009, No. 204)

In every case that I have cited, it may have been the case that the business concerned could not have anticipated or prepared for what happened. In the case of the ports review, however, I simply do not accept that, for all the ports businesses now affected, what happened came completely out of the blue. Some of those businesses have highly paid advisers and some were paying separate business rates on properties that they were already operating. It is not the case that what happened hit those businesses totally unawares. That may have been the case for some, but it cannot be the case for all.