On 26th November 2013, the Lanarkshire Valuation Appeal Panel allowed the appeal of the Wood Group Engineering (North Sea) Ltd (the ratepayer) against the decision of the Assessor for Lanarkshire to treat three floors occupied by the ratepayer in a building in Strathclyde Business Park as three separate units of occupation.  The panel decided that the three floors occupied by the ratepayer for the purposes of its business should be treated as unum quid, that is, as a single unit of occupation.

This was the first case in Scotland to consider the implications of the recent Court of Appeal decision in Woolway v. Mazars [2013] EWCA Civ 368, where it was decided that a firm’s occupation of multiple floors in a modern office block for the integrated purposes of its business should be treated as unum quid.  The panel accepted the ratepayer’s argument that Woolway brought “refreshing clarity” to the law on rating valuation.  The starting point was always an assessment of the facts and not the application of legal tests as a type of ‘tick box’ exercise.  The panel concluded that Woolway represented the law of Scotland: to treat the occupation of multiple floors in a tower block by the same business for its integrated business purposes as separate units of occupation would defeat the geographical approach which is normally to be applied in valuations.

Terra Firma Chambers represented both parties in the appeal, with Denis Edwards acting for the Appellant ratepayer and Steven Stuart QC acting for the Assessor.