Minimum Wage
This coverage examines the impact of minimum wage policies on UK retail businesses, with reporting on legislative changes, compliance obligations, cost management, and workforce strategies. Insight focuses on how retailers adapt operations, staffing, and pay structures to meet legal requirements while maintaining commercial performance — supporting executives, HR managers, and owners navigating wage regulation challenges.
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Jun- 2020 -9 JuneHigh Street
Iceland founder and CEO take full ownership after buying 63% stake
Frozen food retailer Iceland has announced that its founder and executive chairman Sir Malcolm Walker and chief executive officer Tarsem Dhaliwal have taken full ownership after buying out the entire shareholding of the company’s sole external investor Brait. Walker and Dhaliwal have bought Brait’s shareholding in Iceland Topco, representing 63.1%…
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May- 2020 -1 MayCoronavirus
Iceland boss hits back at HMRC over minimum wage probe
The boss of Iceland has hit back at HMRC for “harassing” the business in regards to a previous minimum wage tax dispute amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. According to the Times, Sir Malcom Walker, who founded the businesses over 50 years ago, said in a letter that HMRC should be…
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Apr- 2020 -9 AprilCoronavirus Featured Content
Coronavirus: furloughed workers and what it means for business
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is designed to help businesses that would otherwise be forced to lay off staff in the face of the unprecedented disruption caused by COVID-19. All businesses with a PAYE scheme in place on 28 February 2020, regardless of size or sector, will be able to…
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Mar- 2020 -30 MarchCoronavirus Featured Content
The minimum wage increase is about to hit – and it beggars belief
As if to bang the final nail into the coffin himself, we can only assume the Treasury’s top man, chancellor Rishi Sunak, refuses to give ground on the next wave to crash over the retail and hospitality industries. I am talking of course about the increase in the National Minimum…
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27 MarchCoronavirus
What we know about furlough leave and the CJRS
HMRC published details of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) on 26.3.20 which are available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme Key points include: Employees that employers can claim CJRS for For the purposes of CJRS, the definition of employee would include workers and agency workers provided they are subject to PAYE i.e. this…
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24 MarchCoronavirus
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – Advice for employers
Nigel Morris, tax director at MHA MacIntyre Hudson explains how employers can access the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) to continue paying 80% of the salary for employees that would otherwise have been laid off or made redundant, the practical next steps and potential complications of the scheme. Key points include:…
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6 MarchBusiness Bites
Flybe’s pensions in doubt; Poorest 20% no better off than before, 1m Virgin customers on unsecured database
Flybe’s pension pot for 1,350 current and former workers is at risk, as the fallout from one of the first casualties of the coronavirus business threat manifests in full. Flybe of course was already embattled before the new Covid-19 virus came along, and was the subject of a controversial bailout…
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Jan- 2020 -21 JanuarySupermarkets
Aldi hikes minimum wage
Aldi has announced it will implement “market leading” pay rates for its store colleagues. All employees will earn a minimum hourly rate of £9.40 nationally and £10.90 inside the M25, increasing from £9.10 and £10.55 respectively. The new rates, which exceed the Living Wage Foundation’s recommended rates, will be effective…
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9 JanuaryAnalysis
Who would have thought skinny jeans could be anyone’s undoing?
It’s not often that the business pages give you a good belly laugh. But today we have the spectacle of Marks & Spencer blaming its poor Christmas trading results partly on an oversupply of skinny jeans for men. Apparently customer surveys revealed that the high street bellwether’s ranges were “too…
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Dec- 2019 -13 DecemberBusiness Bites
The election is over – time for the Tories to deliver for small businesses
It now looks as though political stasis and all the damage that does to business will be lifted in 2020. Boris Johnson’s victory in the election is the Tories’ strongest since the Thatcher era, and gives him great scope to implement bold policies. At this juncture it’s worth taking a…
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