Just Eat boss quits in unexpected resignation January 21, 2019 Just Eat chief executive Peter Plumb is to step down from his role at the British takeaway ordering website with immediate effect, the firm revealed this morning. In an unexpected announcement Just Eat said that Plumb is to be replaced after 16 months at the helm on an interim basis by current chief customer officer Peter Duffy [...]
EU digital tax could be agreed by March, says French finance minister Bruno Le Maire January 20, 2019 The European Union could reach an agreement on details of a digital tax by the end of March, the French finance minister has said. Talks among EU ministers aimed at aligning the taxation of online businesses broke down in December. A number of smaller member states, including Ireland, Sweden and Denmark, opposed the plan and [...]
Berkeley Group chairman Tony Pidgley on Brexit, buildings and bonus backlashes January 16, 2019 Tony Pidgley is a staunch defender of his trade, as you would expect Britain’s best-known housebuilder to be. So it comes as something of a surprise when, asked about the huge row that hit his sector last year when fellow housing boss Jeff Fairburn took a £75m bonus, he does not come down on Fairburn’s [...]
Parent trap: the child benefits system has ended up punishing the very people it was designed to protect January 16, 2019 For high-flying parents who earn more than £50,000 a year, the child benefit system will seem ridiculous. You go through the effort of applying for the benefits (over the course of a year, this amounts to £1,000 for the first child, and £700 for each additional child), only for the money to be clawed back [...]
Games Workshop enjoys record year as business remains ‘in great shape’ January 15, 2019 Miniature wargaming manufacturer Games Workshop struck a positive tone this morning after posting record sales, despite a slowdown in growth during the half-year to December. The figures Sales in the six months to 2 December 2018 hit £125m, rising from £110m during the same period in the previous year. Meanwhile, operating and pre-tax profits rose from £38.1m [...]
Eager for a house price fall? It’s time for a lesson in economics January 15, 2019 Would it be a good thing if house prices in the UK fell? The British public, a host of commentators on Twitter, and even some economists seem to think so. A recent YouGov poll asked Britons whether a 30 per cent fall in property values after Brexit would be a “bad thing”. Just 32 per [...]
Revolution Bars suffers share price drop in wake of profit warning January 14, 2019 Cocktail group Revolution Bars saw its share price dive this morning as it became the latest UK retailer to issue a stark profit warning, in spite of a Christmas boost for the business. Shares in early morning trading plummeted 17 per cent as the Manchester-based group warned of an expected 20 per cent drop in its [...]
Fears over business rates mount as Britain’s major retailers prepare to form action group January 13, 2019 Some of Britain’s biggest retailers are coming together in an urgent bid to seek business rates relief from the government, City A.M. has learned. Around 50 major high street names are joining a mass lobbying effort to curb forthcoming rises in their property tax, as profits plunge in the face of falling sales and online [...]
Christmas shoppers shunned the high street, but attacking Amazon won’t help January 11, 2019 Between the fierce renewal of the Brexit saga, parliamentary shenanigans, and a particularly chilling cold front (interpret that literally or metaphorically, as you will), the merriness of Christmas feels like a thing of the past. But for the high street, it feels like Christmas never came at all. Reports of retail sales, released yesterday by [...]
HMRC claims its online tax evasion crackdown has clawed back £200m January 11, 2019 The government claims to have recovered more than £200m of lost VAT from overseas sellers since gaining new powers, saying its crackdown on online tax evasion is paying off. HMRC has issued over 4,600 ‘red flag’ notices to online marketplaces such as Amazon and Ebay since 2016. The flags, called Joint and Several Liability (JSL) [...]