Andrew Hetherton is a Director and
Andrew Hetherton Consulting Ltd and business rates consultant. He has 22 years of
experience as a business rates consultant in private practice. Having
previously worked for GL Hearn he has been involved
with business rates appeals throughout the United Kingdom and in the Irish
Republic. Prior to that, he spent a short time working for the Valuation Office
Agency (VOA).
Andrew is an elected member of the Council of the Institute of
Revenues, Rating and Valuation (IRRV) its Junior Vice President, Chairman of the Law and Research Committee and The Valuers Association. He is a Past President of the
Rating Surveyors’ Association (RSA) and has served on the Committee of the RSA
since 2008. Currently he is also one of the IRRV representatives on both the
Professional Bodies Liaison Group and the Valuation Tribunal Users Group. He
is also a member of the RICS Local Taxation and
Policy Panel.
He has a particular interest in the out-of-town retail
warehouses sector and is Chairman
of Accessible Retail which represents the interests
of landlords, occupiers, developers and investors in that sector. He has
experience of dealing with a wide range of property types and has co-ordinated
and represented the interests of a large number of occupier and landlord
clients on business rates matters in connection with the 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2017 rating
lists.
Andrew has
given evidence to the Parliamentary Select
Committee for Communities and Local Government to assist its current inquiry
into the business rates system. He has spoken at a variety of national and
international events including the annual National Rating Days run by Contact
Property Training, the annual RICS Rating Diploma Holders Conferences, various
industry and trade conferences, and events organised by the International
Property Tax Institute of which he is a member.
As a leading business rates practitioner, he has coordinated
Rating Surveyors’ Association Committees both in and out of town. He has acted
as both advocate and expert witness at Valuation Tribunal hearings, he has been
responsible for a range of appeals to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber), and
he has submitted appeals to the Information Commissioner on issues relating to
business rates.