Autumn Statement 2015: When it comes to tax credits, it’s heartening to see George Osborne perform a u-turn, even at the cost of looking weak November 25, 2015 In the run-up to the Autumn Statement and Spending Review, the biggest question was what George Osborne was going to do about tax credits. He couldn't u-turn fully, because there was nowhere else to find his £12bn of welfare cuts needed to generate a £10bn surplus by 2020—or so ran the conventional line. Therefore people [...]
JD Wetherspoon hits out at government’s Living Wage September 11, 2015 Pub chain JD Wetherspoon has become the most recent in a series of companies to hit out at the government’s Living Wage. In the company’s preliminary yearly results, the pub chain said the government is putting pubs under financial strain. Read more: National living wage – All businesses will end up paying it – but [...]
“Rise up”: The full text of Tony Blair’s Open Britain speech on Brexit February 17, 2017 Tony Blair has been absent from British politics for years, now – but today he returned in spectacular style, urging the UK's population to "rise up" against Brexit. Although some (including former deputy PM Nick Clegg) liked it, the majority of reaction has been that he missed the mark. Not sure what you think? Here's [...]
SME health check: What 2016 holds for UK firms January 4, 2016 The past year has seen the continuation of steady UK growth alongside a degree of political stability after the re-election of the Conservative Party with a majority in May. The result is that business confidence in general is positive. But what of SMEs in particular? And what could 2016 bring? First, we’ve seen a huge [...]
Living Wage: Morrisons boss Dave Potts joins Next, John Lewis and Whitbread in warning of extra staff costs September 10, 2015 The cost of the National Living Wage is stacking up rapidly. Morrisons has today admitted that the introduction of the government-imposed measure next year is going cost the supermarket group “10s of millions of pounds” on top of the costs the business is already battling with to turn itself around. From April next year, businesses [...]
Private equity firms dine out on restaurant chains January 19, 2016 The restaurants and bar sector was a veritable feeding frenzy of deals last year, with more choice of companies to buy than an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. Robust trading conditions thanks to improved consumer spending provided an opportune time for private equity companies to sell long-term investments to rival buyout firms with cash to spend. CBPE’s sale of [...]
Monsoon Accessorize tops government list of minimum wage offenders October 23, 2015 Womenswear retailer Monsoon has topped a government list of companies failing to pay staff the national minimum wage. An HMRC investigation found 115 non-compliant companies, which have today been named and shamed as owning workers nearly £400,000 in the last year, spanning sectors including hairdressing, retail, education, catering and social care. On 1 October 2015, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) [...]
Nobody wins from a house price crash July 21, 2016 The full effects of the referendum on Britain’s economy are still unknown. Stocks are faring relatively well, with the FTSE 100 bursting over 6,700 and the FTSE 250 hitting a post-vote high. The pound remains slumped below $1.32, however, while consumer confidence appears to have taken a tangible knock. Many business leaders are worried, and some [...]
The economic risks looming for small firms – Investec Comment August 31, 2015 Last week’s sharp sell-off in equity markets, apparently sparked by fears over the health of the Chinese economy, dramatically highlighted the risks to the global economic outlook. But the UK is still likely to enjoy moderate growth for at least the next two years. The CBI last week upgraded its UK forecasts for 2015 and [...]
Poundland’s share price plummets as profits slump against “exceptional period last year” while 99p Stores conversion begins November 19, 2015 Poundland's share price plummeted more than 20 per cent this morning as it revealed a slump in first year profits. The figures Poundland's total sales rose 5.6 per cent on a constant currency basis, but like-for-likes were down 2.8 per cent. However it was the EBITDA and pre-tax profits that really took a hit, with [...]