Meeting of the Parliament 17 December 2025
I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests: I am a small farmer in Moray.
I join others in thanking Rachael Hamilton for securing a very important debate about the value of small businesses, not just on small business Saturday but across the year, and the value of what they do, particularly in rural communities such as those in Moray, where I live.
Although Moray might be home to some of the bigger names such as Walker’s Shortbread, Johnstons of Elgin and Baxters, it is also home to some really promising new starts and growing small businesses. I have had the pleasure of lodging motions to welcome some of their major achievements this year. They include Kompassion Kombucha, W Reid butchers in Hopeman, and the microbrewery Mind Hop Brewery, which produces Moray’s newest non-alcoholic beer and stout, as well as supporting mental health charities.
However, as members might expect me to say, often overlooked are some of our farmers and fishermen, who are themselves small business owners. Many are developing their businesses to support local enterprises, and they are bringing their food to the market in a variety of different and quite innovative ways. I want to recognise the value that they bring to their communities.
I will focus on a particular concern that my colleague Fergus Ewing brought up earlier, which is the changes to non-domestic rates. My inbox has been filled with messages about that issue over the past couple of weeks, and I appreciate people getting in touch with me. I will give a few examples. One small holiday-let business emailed me to say that, when it started its business, in 2020, which was already a tricky year with Covid-19, its business rates bill was £6,000 a year, and it has just received its draft valuation for 2026, which informed the business that it faces a new bill of £30,000 a year. In its words—