Business rates support across Greater Manchester
We're based in the North West and work with businesses across Manchester city centre and the wider Greater Manchester area — from the Northern Quarter and Spinningfields through to Salford, Trafford, Stockport, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Tameside and Wigan. Business rates are a national system administered by the Valuation Office Agency, but rateable values are set against local rental evidence, which is exactly where a consultant who actually knows the local commercial property market earns their fee.
Why location-specific evidence matters
Two units on paper-identical leases in different parts of Greater Manchester can carry very different rateable values, because the VOA's comparable evidence is drawn from actual local lettings — and the strength of a Challenge often comes down to how well that local evidence is understood and presented. A generic national comparison doesn't carry the same weight as evidence that reflects what's actually happening on a specific street or in a specific commercial district.
This matters more than usual around a revaluation: rental markets in different parts of the city move at different speeds, so a rateable value increase that looks reasonable citywide can still be wrong for a specific unit once you look at what's actually renting nearby.
What we see most often in Manchester
- City centre retail and hospitality — units where the rateable value still reflects pre-pandemic or pre-vacancy comparable evidence that no longer matches actual achievable rents in that specific parade or arcade.
- Office space in secondary locations outside the core CBD, where flexible/hybrid working has changed demand in ways the VOA's comparables don't always catch quickly.
- Industrial and trade counter units across the wider conurbation (Trafford Park, Wigan, Bury), where floor area and use-class errors are common on older stock.
- Pubs, restaurants and licensed venues across the city, valued using a different method entirely — see our hospitality rates guide.
How we work with Greater Manchester businesses
Everything runs the same way regardless of exactly where in the region you're based: a free initial assessment of your rateable value against comparable local evidence, then — if there's a case — we run the full Check, Challenge, Appeal process on your behalf. Being local means site visits and in-person meetings are straightforward where they're useful, not just a phone call.
The 2026 revaluation and Manchester
The new rating list that took effect on 1 April 2026 reset every rateable value in the region against more recent rental evidence. If you haven't checked your new figure against what's actually happening in your specific part of Manchester yet, that's the first thing worth doing — see our guide to the 2026 revaluation for the full detail on what changed and the deadlines involved.