Cash machine ruling hits London councils with £60m rebate November 19, 2018 London councils are to cough up a hefty rebate to retailers following a recent court ruling that decided firms should not be liable for business rates on cash machines outside their stores. Nearly 2,400 supermarkets, small shops and petrol stations are set for a £60m windfall from London’s councils following a five-year legal dispute which [...]
Water giant United Utilities forecasted to hit higher profits November 18, 2018 United Utilities, the UK’s largest listed water firm, is forecasted to post a rise in earnings and profits when it reveals its first-half results later this week. According to City estimates the FTSE 100 group is set to report earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of £360m in the first six months of the financial [...]
Profit or purpose? Business must find a better balance November 15, 2018 Last week, I attended a meeting of entrepreneurs backing Small Business Saturday (coming up on 1 December) to look at a survey of what motivates these firms. I expected a tirade against red tape and tax. What we got was the news that, of over 1,000 SMEs polled, only 60 per cent were primarily driven [...]
US midterm elections: Is gridlock good? November 14, 2018 | City Talk Further tax cuts unlikely but will Trump strike a deal on trade? Keith Wade, Chief Economist, says: “The midterm elections restored some faith in opinion polls with the Democrats taking the House of Representatives and the Republicans holding the Senate. Conventional wisdom has it that a gridlocked Congress is good for markets as it prevents [...]
Let’s embrace No Deal and get planning for life after Brexit November 13, 2018 There is an anecdote doing the rounds at the moment where an acquaintance of a civil servant jests “I suppose you’re doing your best to stop Brexit!”, to which the official, not knowing that his friend voted Leave and was pulling his leg, replies “You bet I am, and every one of us too”. True [...]
Profits crash again as ‘frail’ McCarthy & Stone outlines plan to cut costs November 13, 2018 Profits collapsed at retirement housebuilder McCarthy & Stone today as it posted its full year results. Profit before tax fell 37 per cent year on year to £58.1m, down from £92.1m in 2017, as the housebuilder blamed a rise in building costs, rising operating costs, as well as extra marketing to promote its latest homes. [...]
Not all foreign criminals should be deported – the case of Kweku Adoboli reveals a system that is too draconian November 12, 2018 Foreign criminals should be deported when they have served their sentences – this is effectively the government’s position, and one that remains popular with voters. On the face of it, the policy seems entirely reasonable; why should the UK show clemency to people who arrive on these shores and commit crimes against our citizens? And [...]
Impeaching Trump would be disastrous for the Democrats November 9, 2018 It took the President mere hours after holding his post-midterms press conference to drop the inevitable bombshell. After months of lambasting Jeff Sessions, the attorney general was being fired, replaced with the more amenable Matthew Whitaker. Why such ire towards Sessions, when he had been one of Donald Trump’s fiercest supporters on the campaign trail? [...]
AJ Bell posts double-digit growth in run-up to London float November 8, 2018 AJ Bell’s revenue soared nearly 20 per cent in the year to September, giving the investment platform a fresh dose of confidence ahead of its float later this year. The Salford-based group announced today that revenues had soared by 19 per cent to £89.7m over the 12 months to September, with pre-tax profits rising 31 per [...]
The government is finally turning its attention to the housing crisis, but what’s missing? November 8, 2018 There's no question that the housing market is in need of drastic reform. So it was welcome news last week when the chancellor announced that the government was turning its attention to reforming the supply side of the market through a £500m Housing Infrastructure Fund and British Business Bank guarantees for SME house builders. In broader terms, there seems to [...]