An increasing number of small businesses in Argyll and Bute are benefiting from a national non-domestic rates relief scheme.

The news came following a council campaign to alert local businesses which were eligible for the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) but which had not previously applied.

The increase in total relief for 2011/12 in Argyll and Bute is 15.7% - significantly higher than the Scotland-wide figure of 12%.

Councillor Neil Mackay, Argyll and Bute’s spokesperson for enterprise, energy, culture and tourism, said: “We are acutely aware of the challenges our small local businesses are facing in the current financial climate.

“This scheme provides non-domestic business rates relief or discounts for small businesses across Scotland. Such relief can be a major factor in the ability of small businesses to overcome the challenges and emerge as stronger, more successful enterprises.

“That is why we have made a concerted effort to pro-actively ensure that all eligible businesses in Argyll and Bute are benefiting from this scheme. I am delighted that our campaign has been so successful in this regard.”

In 2008/09, 3,152 recipients of this scheme in Argyll and Bute received total relief of £2,161,834. Those figures have now risen to 3,885 and £3,846,725 in the current year.