John Truslove, of Redditch property agents John Truslove, praised the Chancellor for announcing a full review of the structure of business rates.

And he said he certainly would be responding to the invitation for “business groups to engage with us”.

He said: “What is unfair is that the current revaluation has been postponed for seven years at a time when we have suffered the worst and longest recession in living memory.

“I would hazard an informed guess that pretty well every current rateable value, based as it is on 2008 values, is plain wrong.

“Restore fairness, I say, by introducing bi-annual revaluations. Dead simple. It might not reduce the amount rate-payers actually stump up, but at least it will level the playing field.”