Chancellor
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Jan- 2020 -22 JanuaryAnalysis
Ted Baker hanging by a thread amid £58m balance sheet black hole
If you have shares in Ted Baker, you are probably not having a good morning. The price has tanked by almost 7% after news broke that the fashion brand has found a £58m black hole in its accounts. There’s being a few hundred thousand or a few million short, but…
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14 JanuaryAnalysis
Javid mulls three-year passenger duty holiday for Flybe
Things are not looking rosy for low-cost airline, Flybe, but the chancellor Sajid Javid may have some proposals that save it from complete collapse. It is reported this morning that he is considering cutting air passenger duty on all domestic flights – a big boon for all the other airlines…
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Dec- 2019 -3 DecemberEconomy
Outstanding business rates challenges increase by 35%
The number of businesses waiting for challenges over soaring business rates to be resolved has jumped by more than a third in just three months, according to new figures issued by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The figures revealed the number of outstanding challenges has increased by 35% fuelling concerns…
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Oct- 2019 -16 OctoberEconomy
Retail sector could face £137m rates hike next year
September’s headline rate of inflation is set to cause more business rates increases in 2020, according to calculations from real estate advisers Altus Group. The firm said the 1.7% uprating for inflation will add an additional £536m to the overall gross business rates burden. As a result, the “embattled” retail…
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Sep- 2019 -23 SeptemberHigh Street
Bailiffs visit 310 premises a day over business rates, study finds
Councils across England are sending bailiffs to 310 companies a day over business rates arrears, new figures show. The investigation by the real estate adviser Altus Group revealed that, during the last financial year, for 2018/19, over 78,000 non-domestic properties from shops to restaurants to pubs to factories to offices…
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3 SeptemberHigh Street
Retail sales ‘flatline’ as discounting and poor footfall ‘hit hard’
Retail sales “flatlined” in August according to the BRC-KPMG sales monitor, as summer discounting and “poor” footfall hitting in-store sales “particularly hard”. On a total basis, sales were found to be flat in August, against an increase of 1.3% in August 2018. This is above the 3-month average of -0.4%…
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2 SeptemberGovernment
Retail business rates could rise by £169m over the next 12 months
Retailers could see a £169m increase in business rates next year, prompting renewed calls for the government to overhaul the system. Calculations by real estate advisors Altus Group found gross business rates bills (including non-retail) for the financial year 2020/21 would increase by £662.15m in England, if the headline rate…
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Aug- 2019 -13 AugustHigh Street
Over 50 retailers sign letter demanding business rates fix
Over fifty major retailers have come together to demand the government takes action to fix the “broken” business rates system. In a letter to the new chancellor, Sajid Javid, retailers have called on the government to put business rates “at the heart” of the promised new economic package. The letter,…
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9 AugustGovernment
Gove orders HMRC to support SMEs in the event of no-deal
Ministers including Michael Gove have ordered HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to support “cash-strapped” small business in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Representatives from 19 of the UK’s largest business federations met with ministers at No 10 yesterday (8 August) to discuss how to accelerate “business preparedness” for leaving…
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Jul- 2019 -3 July
Amazon to create over 2,000 more UK jobs
Online retailer Amazon has announced that it will create 2,000 new jobs in the UK in 2019, which will take its total permanent workforce to more than 29,500 by the end of the year. The company has now invested £9.3bn in its UK operations since 2010. The roles available range…
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