A NATIONAL firm run by a billionaire Cumbria landowner could avoid paying business rates at its new city centre headquarters.

Philip Day’s Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) has applied to Carlisle City Council for the two-year business rate relief for Global House, in Castle Street, under a policy which aims to encourage the occupation of ‘hard to let’ empty business premises.

This means the firm - which has 400 retail stores across the UK - would save more than £250,000, while the council would incur costs of £102,000 over the 24-month relief period. The remaining balance would be shared between the Cumbria Pooling authorities - the six district councils and Cumbria County Council.

The application will be considered by the authority’s ruling executive on Monday and is recommended for approval.

Council leader Colin Glover said the scheme aims to bring large, empty buildings back into use and is an incentive for investment.

“[EWM] were looking at where they were going to place their new headquarters. It was a competitive process and they could have gone anywhere in the UK. This has been part of retaining jobs in the Borderlands region," he said.

“There was never any guarantee they could come to Carlisle. There could have been other places which offered incentives, and if we didn’t then the risk is that not only the business goes somewhere else but those jobs go somewhere else as well.

“While you might say we are offering a big discount to a big company, it benefits the city, having all of those staff located in the city centre. It’s retaining jobs and also growing jobs because Edinburgh Woollen Mill have made it their global head quarters. It gives the city a real status and is a signal to other investors that we really want them to come and invest in Carlisle.”

Councillors granted an original business rates discount application in November 2016 but this lapsed because the building was taken out of rating by the Valuation Office due to extensive redevelopment works.

It was approved on the condition the company committed a minimum five-year occupation of the building. The report states EWM confirmed it will remain at Global House “significantly in excess of the required five years”.

A spokesman for EWM Group said: “This application is a resubmission of a request that lapsed during the course of our multi-million-pound, multi-year redevelopment of Global House. It contains no new rates relief and re-states our intention to put Carlisle at the centre of our global business, creating more jobs not only over the coming years but, indeed, over the coming decades.

“Since our move, we have already created new roles across the business, from hiring new finance trainees, designers, and technologists to a highly experienced head of marketing. We continue to work hand-in-hand with Carlisle City Council to show other national and international businesses that Carlisle is a great place to do business, and we are keen to encourage more companies to relocate here.”

EWM will continue to pay full rates at its English Street store and Kingmoor Park depot. It cannot reapply for further relief at Global House after the two years.