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.