Parents receive childcare boost March 19, 2014 WORKING parents were given a boost yesterday by the government’s pledge to extend its tax-deductible childcare costs cap to £10,000 per year. This means parents will now receive up to £2,000 worth of support per child, up from £1,200 in last year’s Budget. The scheme will be rolled out to eligible families with children under [...]
Brewers cheer beer price relief as cost of fags raised by 28p per pack March 19, 2014 PUBS, Scottish whisky distilleries and West Country cider brewers will all benefit from alcohol tax changes announced yesterday, while the tobacco industry faces increasing duty on cigarettes. The reforms announced in the Budget include a two per cent reduction on beer duty, amounting to a penny price drop in most pubs, for the second year [...]
Big projects on back burner but London backed March 19, 2014 LONDON housing and transport projects got the chancellor’s blessing yesterday, though shovel-ready projects across the rest of the country were thin on the ground. George Osborne said the government will help “develop proposals” for an extension to the Gospel Oak to Barking Line to reach Barking Riverside, a 11,000-home scheme, and support regeneration at Brent [...]
Osborne helps air passengers and car drivers March 19, 2014 LONG-HAUL flyers got a surprise tax cut yesterday as the chancellor flattened air passenger duty (APD) rates. In a move explicitly aimed at flights to and from South Asia and other fast-growing economies, George Osborne cut the rate for all flights over 2,000 miles to as little as £67 for an economy class ticket. The [...]
Carbon tax savings to help UK manufacturers March 19, 2014 UK INDUSTRY received a £7bn boost yesterday when the chancellor unveiled a package of energy savings for manufacturers, which includes freezing a controversial carbon tax. Energy intensive industries (EII) argue that the carbon price floor, which taxes fossil fuel emissions, makes firms unable to compete with their rivals in Europe and the US. Capping the [...]
Revenue guarantees for power plants in new market reforms March 19, 2014 NEW POWER plants will be able to receive revenue guarantees for up to 15 years, under new market reforms confirmed by the government yesterday. The capacity market rules aim to ensure that there is sufficient energy supply in place to meet demand by securing agreements between energy providers and suppliers. These agreements will be up [...]
Reactions to the chancellor’s statement March 19, 2014 THINK TANK’S TAKE Director at the Adam Smith InstituteEamonn Butler The libertarian think tank applauded the freedom granted to pensioners. “At last Britain's private pension savers will be treated like responsible adults. As lifetimes have lengthened and financial uncertainty has abounded, annuity rates have fallen, leaving savers much worse off then they expected. The rule [...]
City Moves for 20 March 2014 | Who’s switching jobs March 19, 2014 Deloitte The professional services company has announced the appointment of Craig Robinson as head of neighbourly matters in its real estate division. He has 20 years’ experience as a chartered surveyor, and was most recently at Savills, where he established and led its rights of light team. Spring Law The law firm has appointed Sven [...]
Best of the Brokers for 20 March 2014 March 19, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ROLLS-ROYCE UBS has reversed its view on the engineering giant, moving from a “sell” to “buy” and hiking its target from 900p to 1,160p. The broker believes the firm’s cash conversion will improve towards the end of the decade and has raised its profit forecasts [...]
London Report: Osborne’s speech sinks insurers and gambling groups March 19, 2014 BRITAIN’S top shares fell yesterday as major insurance stocks suffered a sell-off after changes announced in the Budget threatened their profits. George Osborne also dealt a blow to gambling companies such after he announced a new tax on certain betting machines. The drop in insurers’ shares took the most points off the blue-chip FTSE 100 [...]