British smokers are switching to e-cigarettes faster than anyone else in Europe February 6, 2017 Britons are switching from cigarettes to electronic alternatives faster than anyone else in Europe. Since 2013, one person has switched from traditional smoking to so-called vaping every four minutes in the UK, according to new research from EY. And now more than 2m British people vape, a total of 4.2 per cent of adults. By contrast, the [...]
Ancient woodlands will be offered boosted planning protection under Sajid Javid’s housing plans February 6, 2017 Ministers will bring in new protections for England's woodlands as part of the housing white paper. Communities secretary Sajid Javid will tomorrow lay out plans that will put some of the UK’s forests on par with green belt land. The Woodland Trust had raised concerns that more than 700 ancient woods are threatened by development ranging from housing [...]
Payday lender Wonga set to offload European unit BillPay for £60m this week February 6, 2017 Payday lender Wonga is set to announce the sale of a large chunk of its European operations later this week. The group will offload BillPay, one of its most valuable units, to Swedish e-commerce firm Klarna for around £60m, Sky News first reported. Klarna operates in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland, while Wonga continues to trade in countries [...]
Government should cut business rates if there is a Brexit slowdown says CBI February 6, 2017 The government should be prepared to cut business rates in the event of a Brexit slowdown, says an influential business group, while expressing concerns the apprenticeship levy may not be ready in time. The Confederation of British Industries (CBI) expects growth to slow in 2017 to 1.5 per cent, and wants the government to be [...]
Trumping Brexit: Business optimism soars as manufacturing confidence hits 20-month high February 6, 2017 The shock Brexit vote and the outcome of the US presidential elections have failed to dent business optimism in the UK, according to a report by BDO. The accountants’ optimism index, which indicates how firms expect their order books to develop in the next six months, has risen to 103.7 from 102.2 in December. BDO's latest [...]
UK firms could face £2,600 in additional employment costs, warns Federation of Small Businesses February 6, 2017 UK small businesses could face £2,600 in additional employment costs, the Federation of Small Businesses has warned. The business lobby group called on UK chancellor Philip Hammond to use the upcoming budget to help small businesses tackle soaring employment costs. In its submission to Hammond ahead of the 8 March budget, the FSB has urged action [...]
Lloyds bankers’ bonuses overtake RBS’ this year February 5, 2017 Lloyds Banking Group’s bonus package will be more generous than RBS’ this year for the first time since the financial crash of 2008. RBS has set aside £340m for bonuses this year, according to Bloomberg, but Britain’s other bailed-out bank, Lloyds, is planning to share out £390m. Read more: The government has cut its stake [...]
Flopshop: Arcadia Group brand Topshop’s sales drop over Christmas February 5, 2017 Sir Philip Green’s fashion brand Topshop suffered a like-for-like sales drop of nearly 11 per cent over Christmas, the most important shopping period of the year. The Sunday Times has reported that sales across the Arcadia Group as a whole, which includes Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Evans, fell by about 6.5 per cent. The poor [...]
BrightHouse in bid for favour with watchdog February 5, 2017 ELECTRICALS rent-to-own retailer BrightHouse has put forward reform plans to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in a bid to save its reputation with the watchdog. The FCA is scrutinising a business plan from BrightHouse and will be deciding whether the retailer should be allowed to continue lending. The retailer allows shoppers to pay for goods, [...]