AA wins multi-million-pound contract to service VW cars December 18, 2018 The AA today secured a two-year extension to its contract with Volkswagen in a deal worth tens of millions of pounds. The breakdown cover provider will continue to cover all new vehicles in the Volkswagen group, which includes Audi, Seat and Skoda, the company said today. The two companies have worked together since 2014, and [...]
Halo Top ice cream defrosted from the startup doldrums to become a retail success December 17, 2018 Junk food is, rightly, under assault. This year, we’ve seen the introduction of a sugar tax on soft drinks, and last month London mayor Sadiq Khan announced a ban on junk food advertising on the capital’s public transportation network. This comes after tougher TV advertising rules introduced last year, which meant that ads for food [...]
UK banks taxed almost double the amount of the rest of the FTSE 100 December 17, 2018 UK banks pay nearly double the amount of tax compared to the rest of the FTSE 100, new data has revealed. The five biggest banks paid an effective tax rate – the rate at which a corporation’s profits are taxed – of 42 per cent last year, almost twice as much as the 23 per [...]
Michael Cohen claims Donald Trump directed him to make hush money payments December 15, 2018 Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen claims the US president ordered him to make hush money payments. Cohen, who has been sentenced to three years in prison, claims he followed "a bad path" in being loyal to Trump but would "not be the villain" in the story, in an interview with US broadcaster ABC. "He [...]
Mirror and Express owner Reach bumps up trading expectations December 14, 2018 The publisher of the Mirror and Express newspapers saw its share price climb more than five per cent this morning after saying that trading for the year will finish “marginally ahead of market expectations”. Reach, the company name adopted by Trinity Mirror after it acquired Richard Desmond’s media portfolio in February for £127m, reported a rise [...]
Sports Direct takes profit hit from ‘challenging’ House of Fraser acquisition December 13, 2018 Sports Direct has posted a 27 per cent drop in half-year profits today, as costs from the acquisition of beleaguered department store chain House of Fraser weighed on the group’s balance books. Shares in Sports Direct slumped 12.7 per cent this afternoon, with the retailer rushing out an urgent clarification this afternoon after Mike Ashley said [...]
Mike Ashley slams Debenhams for rejecting his £40m loan December 13, 2018 Retail tycoon Mike Ashley has launched a scathing attack on Debenhams today, claiming that the beleaguered department store giant has rejected a £40m interest-free emergency loan. In a letter addressed to Debenhams boss Sergio Bucher, the billionaire Sports Direct owner suggests that without the money the company "has zero chance of survival". Ashley, who controls [...]
DEBATE: Should the government’s Making Tax Digital initiative be delayed? December 13, 2018 Should the government’s Making Tax Digital initiative be delayed? Suren Thiru, head of economics and business finance at the British Chambers of Commerce, says YES. The Making Tax Digital initiative represents a significant overhaul to the UK’s tax system, which could not be happening at a worse time for both business and government. HMRC already [...]
Hyperbolic discounting explains why the French are revolting over Macron’s fuel tax December 12, 2018 Economists have long argued that an effective way of reducing carbon emissions is by increasing taxes on energy consumption. This year’s Nobel laureate, Bill Nordhaus, advocated a global carbon tax over 40 years ago. The scientific logic is impeccable. But the practical politics of it are fraught with difficulties. To say that energy taxes, and [...]
Superdry blames warm weather on crashing profits December 12, 2018 Superdry's shares have crashed more than 34 per cent in trading today, after the retailer blamed “unseasonably warm weather” for a lull in sales that resulted in a 49 per cent fall in half-year profits. The group warned that profits for the full-year are now projected to come in at £55-70m, falling below analyst expectations of roughly £84m. The [...]