Want a recovery that works for everyone? Fix the injustices in the tax system July 27, 2020 The lockdown shone a spotlight onto a two-speed, two-nation Britain, where better-paid white-collar professionals worked from home, while less well-off key workers had to keep travelling to work, often on crowded public transport, to do riskier jobs. Even worse, it turned out that those less well-off key workers were paying much higher tax rates than [...]
A grown-up Japan marshals the world’s anti-China coalition July 27, 2020 Intellectual coherence has its advantages. While much of the western world has recently taken a holiday from history — as the US is weighed down by the melodrama of Donald Trump, the EU by the sleep-deprivation soap operas of its summit meetings, and the UK by profound confusions about how to respond to coronavirus — [...]
Sowing the seeds for the next stage of fintech success July 27, 2020 Fintech in the UK has grown at breakneck speed. In 2010 it accounted for just four per cent of venture capital investment in the UK. A decade later, this figure has risen to 28 per cent, with a record $4.9bn of capital investment landing in the UK in 2019 — a year-on-year increase of more [...]
Stamp duty cut makes UK buyers among Europe’s lowest taxpayers July 27, 2020 The government’s emergency stamp duty cut means buyers in the UK now pay among the lowest in tax in Europe, even on a prime property. British buyers are now paying just 1.93 per cent of a property’s value in tax compared to the European average of 4.53 per cent, a new study by accountancy network [...]
Consumer confidence edges up after hitting record low July 27, 2020 Consumers in the UK are emerging from the last three months in a slightly more positive mood, a closely-watched industry gauge showed today, with plans to start spending again. Consumer confidence at the end of the second quarter climbed just one percentage point to minus 17 per cent, up from a record low in the [...]
Lack of UK female bosses leads to £47bn profit gap July 27, 2020 Companies in the FTSE 350 with more diverse executive leadership teams perform considerably better and have higher profit margins, a new report said today. Analysis by gender diversity business the Pipeline showed more diverse companies — which have executive committees with female memberships of more than 33 per cent — have a net profit margin [...]
More than a fifth of small businesses expecting ‘much worse’ performance in 2020 July 27, 2020 More than a fifth of the UK’s small businesses expect their performance to be “much worse” over the next three months, after an unprecedented wave of job losses dampened their prospects. Hiring activity, profits and exports across small firms hit an all-time low in the second quarter, with 23 per cent of businesses having cut [...]
Government to draw up legislation to protect consumers during insolvencies July 27, 2020 The government will bring forward legislation to protect consumers when retailers go insolvent, with the UK’s Law Commission slated to draw up the new laws. Under existing legislation, any goods that have been pre-bought by consumers, but not yet collected, are counted as assets if a company becomes insolvent. They can then be held by [...]
Natwest looks at slashing costs by £3bn over the next five years July 26, 2020 Natwest will next week consider proposals to cut costs by £3bn over the next five years as it prepares for a wave of bad debts thanks to the coronavirus crisis. Top managers from the bank, which was renamed from RBS just this week, will look at plans that would see annual operating expenses cut from [...]
Labour at risk of bankruptcy from antisemitism legal cases July 26, 2020 Labour is preparing for a new round of legal cases concerning antisemitism complaints, which could plunge the party into serious financial difficulties. Lawyers from 3D Solicitors will next week set out the legal claims, from nine current and former Labour members, relating to potential data protection and privacy breaches. Labour’s shadow cabinet has reportedly been [...]