Every Lidl helps when it comes to boosting local house prices September 21, 2014 Living close to a discount store such as Lidl can increase the price of your property by almost £30,000, according to research released today. Research by online estate agents Housesimple.co.uk looked at the location of Lidl supermarkets in some of the major towns and cities across the UK and found that, in 80 per cent [...]
Velocys-backed fuel plan gets $70m US grant for new plant September 21, 2014 ENERGY innovator Red Rock Biofuels has been awarded a $70m (£43m) grant to construct a biomass-to-liquids (BTL) plant in Oregon incorporating Velocys Fischer-Tropsch technology. “We are very pleased to see the Red Rock project moving ahead,” said Roy Lipski, the chief executive of Velocys – a technology innovator for smaller scale gas-to-liquids. “This $70m government [...]
How will Scotland vote in the independence referendum? Banker warns of deposit flight if result is Yes September 17, 2014 A former deputy governor of the Bank of England yesterday warned there might be a “deposit flight” if Scotland votes Yes in today’s independence referendum. Sir John Gieve, deputy governor for financial stability at the Bank between 2006 and 2009, told City A.M. that although he was not “expecting a Northern Rock-style run on the [...]
European court adds massive VAT bill to British financial companies September 17, 2014 Banks, insurers and other financial services firms operating across Europe face extra hundreds of millions of pounds of extra tax costs, following a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling yesterday. The ruling means services supplied between a group’s headquarters and its branches may now be subject to VAT. Until now, services such as IT and [...]
Starbucks beware. OECD proposes rules aimed at corporate tax avoidance September 16, 2014 New international tax rules proposed yesterday could eliminate structures that have allowed companies such as Starbucks, Google and Amazon to lessen their tax bills. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced a series of measures that, if implemented by members, could stop companies from employing many commonly used practices to shift profits into [...]
H&M to take on its rival Inditex after posting 20pc earnings lift September 15, 2014 SWEDISH clothing giant Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) yesterday announced a nearly 20 per cent rise in sales in August, beating forecasts after a warm European summer. The company posted net sales of 38.8bn Swedish krone (£3.3bn) excluding sales tax for June through August, beating a forecast of 37.8bn krone and compared with 32bn krone in the [...]
Delek Group in £153m sale of Roadchef as part of focus on energy work September 14, 2014 Israeli conglomerate Delek Group yesterday announced that it had agreed to sell Roadchef, one of Britain’s leading roadside service area businesses, to European fund Antin Infrastructure Partners for about £153m. Delek Group, owned by multi-billionaire Yitzhak Teshuvah, holds major shares in numerous new-found gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean. The sale of Roadchef is part [...]
Sweden to turn left after poll September 14, 2014 A COALITION of three opposition centre-left parties appeared to be on course to form the largest bloc in Sweden’s parliament after yesterday’s general election. However, although the bloc overtook the governing centre-right coalition, it fell short of an absolute majority. The opposition of Social Democrats, Greens and Left Party would win 160 seats in the [...]
Party leaders urged to rebalance the economy September 14, 2014 BRITAIN’S political leaders are being urged by manufacturers to back policies that will rebalance the UK’s economy, following a YouGov poll suggesting strong support for such a move from voters. EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation’s call follows new research confirming widespread support for industry’s demands for better-balanced growth. According to the YouGov poll, 63 per cent [...]
German $280bn current account surplus likely to raise eyebrows September 11, 2014 THE GERMAN government will come under pressure to do more to boost domestic demand after a report revealed yesterday that it was on track to achieve a record current account surplus this year. A forecast by the Ifo think tank estimated that Europe’s largest economy would have the world’s largest current account surplus, at about $280bn [...]
