Businesses call for VAT cut to boost tourism December 9, 2012 SLASHING VAT on tourist industries could grow the economy without cutting tax revenue, a tourist campaign group claimed yesterday. Using the Treasury’s own economic models, the British Hospitality Association (BHA) found that cutting VAT by 15 percentage points on tourism-related sales would deliver a £2.6bn windfall to the Treasury over 10 years. This is because [...]
City development activity rises December 4, 2012 THE CITY has seen a pick-up in construction activity in the past six months with several schemes achieving early pre-lets, according to the latest Drivers Jonas Deloitte crane survey released yesterday. While office developments in the capital remained flat in the second half, the survey showed “a marked increase” in space under construction in the [...]
Smartphones take centre stage in the Christmas shopping rush November 25, 2012 CONSUMERS will not be far from their smartphones when stocking up on gifts this Christmas, with some £3.5bn sales expected to be purchased on or influenced by smartphones, according to business advisory firm Deloitte. The accountancy firm predicts 10 per cent of in-store Christmas sales (£3.2bn) will be influenced by smartphones, with another £330m of [...]
Tax breaks help UK lead way in European oil exploration efforts October 14, 2012 THE UK is leading a minor resurgence in European oil and gas exploration, according to figures out yesterday. A stable oil price and new tax breaks to offset exploration charges imposed in 2010 have encouraged explorers in British waters to drill more in the third quarter of the year, Deloitte said in its survey of [...]
RSA hires Lloyds non-exec Scicluna as chair November 22, 2012 CITY veteran Martin Scicluna will step down from the board of Lloyds Banking Group to take up the chairmanship of insurer RSA, the firms confirmed yesterday. Scicluna will take up his new role at RSA on 1 January, and leave his non-executive post at Lloyds in March, following more than four years on the board. [...]
HP’s staggering accusations drag in City’s largest firms November 20, 2012 THIS paper does its best to avoid editorial hyperbole, but when a firm takes an $8.8bn writedown on an $11bn acquisition barely 12 months after the deal I might just make an exception. It’s completely flabbergasting. Analysts and shareholders alike may have baulked at the steep price that Hewlett-Packard shelled out for UK tech darling [...]
City sleepover in Broadgate November 12, 2012 CITY workers swapped their sheets for the street last week to help raise £250,000 for homeless charity Centrepoint. The Capitalist chatted to Gordon Taylor, managing director of markets at RBS, and Jon Millward, partner at Drivers Jonas Deloitte, before they bedded down for the night. When asked what provisions he had brought along, Taylor said: [...]
Comet launches clearance sale on stock as shop closures loom November 7, 2012 COMET’S administrator has today begun slashing prices on selected stock across the retailer’s 236 stores, as talks to sell all or parts of the business continue. A spokesperson from Deloitte said it had launched “a gentle” clearance sale today on certain items but said it would not hold a full blown fire sale at this [...]
After the turbulence of recent years, has the Eurozone finally managed to turn the corner? December 3, 2012 YES Ian Stewart The process of adjustment in peripheral Europe is starting to deliver results. The pace of change varies hugely, but some of the key indicators are moving in the right direction. Greece reduced its fiscal deficit before interest payments by a hefty 13 per cent of GDP between 2009 and 2012. Spanish and [...]
A measure for the forward-thinking December 9, 2012 ONE of the most striking pro-business announcements in last week’s Autumn Statement was the increase in the tax relief afforded to company investment in plant and machinery equipment. A miserly allowance of £25,000 jumped ten-fold to a healthier £250,000. Aimed at smallish businesses, it’s meant to unlock cash for investment. But it comes with some [...]