Heed the business bashing – capitalism depends on it October 8, 2018 A dreadful misrepresentation, a gaggle of braggarts, the worst take on business you could possibly create. Yes, The Apprentice has returned to the BBC for a fourteenth season, and this time, its representation of business has turbocharged the hate and self-regard to gobsmacking levels. “Nation shall speak peace unto nation” is the motto of the [...]
London comes top in overseas investment ranking as Asian demand flourishes October 8, 2018 London has kept its crown as the world’s most popular city for global real estate investment, according to a new report that sheds light on the burgeoning overseas demand for commercial property in the capital. Buoyed by an influx of Asian money, London has now held its position as the top city for cross-border investment [...]
Everyone’s a loser in today’s fabricated generation wars October 5, 2018 According to doomsayers in policy and media circles, the young have never had it so bad, and the fault lies with their greedy elders. The allegedly enormous, voracious baby boomer generation, living it up on the golf course with the ill-gotten gains from gold-plated pensions and over-valued houses, is in the firing line for causing [...]
HMRC chief slammed by MPs for not telling 100,000 firms how to prepare for ‘no deal’ Brexit October 4, 2018 The UK's chief taxman has been slated by MPs for failing to tell 100,000 small businesses how to prepare for a 'no deal' Brexit. Jon Thompson, chief executive of HMRC, was given a dressing down in a letter from parliament's Public Accounts Committee, which was made public today. Committee chair Meg Hillier said she was [...]
Why the ethical finance industry is still behind the curve October 4, 2018 Ten years on since the financial crisis, there has already been a great deal of focus and contemplation on how financial services have changed over the past decade. For many consumers, banks are still distrusted, not helped by mis-selling scandals or paltry returns on savings accounts. There has been a notable shift in not only [...]
FTSE tobacco giants see share prices fall as US agency seizes documents from e-cigarette firm October 4, 2018 London-listed tobacco giants suffered a dip on the stock market this morning, as investors wobbled amid the news that a US federal agency is starting to flex its muscle over e-cigarette companies. Shares prices in British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands have dived 2.4 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively on the FTSE so far today, as [...]
DEBATE: Can traditional small-state conservatives justify imposing a new digital tax? October 3, 2018 Debate: Can traditional small-state conservatives justify imposing a new digital tax? YES, says Waqar Riaz, head of data-driven marketing at Cheil Europe. Few can argue with the idea that big business should pay its fair share towards public services like the NHS or education. Yet, as business has become increasingly global in nature, legislation has failed to [...]
Theresa May will freeze fuel duty as Conservatives look to limit cost of living increases on working families October 3, 2018 Fuel duty will be frozen for the ninth year in a row, Prime Minister Theresa May will say in her speech to Conservative party conference in Birmingham today, in a populist pitch to working families. May's speech, in which she'll hope to steal back the lime-light from former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, will also set [...]
Airbnb reveals its UK tax bill amid Tory calls for a digital services tax October 2, 2018 Airbnb paid just shy of £600,000 in UK tax last year, City A.M. can reveal, as chancellor Philip Hammond raises calls for a unilateral digital services tax on tech firms. In financial accounts seen by City A.M. and due to be published on Companies House later this week, Airbnb paid just £596,992 in corporate tax in the year [...]
Theresa May’s vision-free approach is alienating us all October 2, 2018 An opening day Conservative conference speech by former CBI Director-General Digby Jones might not have been expected to diagnose the Prime Minister’s key weakness. But defending Theresa May’s Brexit approach, the former Labour minister unwittingly exposed the reason that the Prime Minister has alienated much of her party: she is a vision-free zone. Riffing off [...]