In 2010 he saw rates for his business, and five other nurseries in West Fife, rise by 150 per cent, taking his annual rate up from £20,700 to £51,750. Mr Cameron put the unprecedented rise down to the rates not being applied on a level playing field.
What Mr Cameron describes as a ‘David v Goliath’ battle began, with Lauriston Nursery, Building Blocks in Rosyth and others campaigning to get rates reduced for local childcare businesses.
‘In 2010 we knew the rates were going to go up. However, there was no way we could have budgeted for an increase of over 150 per cent,’ he said. ‘This resulted in nurseries in the Dunfermline area paying over 50 per cent more in rates than if we had opened up a new facility in George Street in Edinburgh.
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