Credit easing targets SMEs March 21, 2012 THE CHANCELLOR officially launched his flagship credit easing scheme in yesterday’s Budget, making £5bn of guarantees available for banks to pass on a subsidy to small businesses. But it also emerged that some banks are setting a minimum floor of £25,000 for loans available through the scheme, cutting out access for many “micro-businesses” that the [...]
Enterprise loans available for young entrepreneurs March 21, 2012 YOUNG people will be able to access enterprise loans of between £5,000 and £10,000 to enable them to start their own business, under a pilot scheme announced in yesterday’s Budget. The deal will be structured in a similar manner to the existing student loans, with low rates of interest likely to be pegged close to [...]
Budget finds £110m for London in boost for Boris March 21, 2012 BORIS Johnson was celebrating yesterday after chancellor George Osborne confirmed a £110m investment in London. The main package is a £70m development fund to attract new business and new jobs to the capital. A further £15m will be spent making road junctions, such as Waterloo roundabout, safer for cyclists. Airport expansion is once again a [...]
Higher tax on game machines bad for pubs March 21, 2012 THOUSANDS of jobs will be put at risk from the increased rate of machine games duty outlined in the Budget, according to the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB). Effective from February 2013, a tax rate of 20 per cent will apply to most gambling machines while a duty of five per cent will be payable [...]
Tax simplified for small firms March 21, 2012 BUSINESSES with an income of under £77,000 will be taxed on a cash basis in an attempt to free three million companies from excessive red tape. The chancellor said he wants to tax small firms “on the basis of the cash that passes through their businesses” rather than “asking them to spend a huge amount [...]
Every taxpayer to be told how their money is spent March 21, 2012 Every taxpayer will receive a personalised statement breaking down how their tax is spent, under plans aimed at increasing the government’s financial transparency. From 2014 , around 20m taxpayers will receive a Personal Tax Statement from HMRC, setting out exactly how much income tax and national insurance contributions they pay and detailing where the money [...]
Upgrades for road, rail and IT take shape March 21, 2012 THE COALITION’S multi-billion pound plans for sweeping infrastructure upgrades are starting to take shape, with £2bn of pension involvement revealed yesterday and new plans to upgrade London’s transport and technology networks. George Osborne said British pension funds have pledged the first £2bn towards a new Pension Infrastructure Platform, first trailed in autumn, with more firms [...]
Housebuilders in £150m boon March 21, 2012 HOUSEBUILDERS were among the biggest risers in the FTSE yesterday after the chancellor said the Get Britain Building fund, which provides upfront finance to construction companies, would be expanded. Shares in Barratt Development jumped 4.42 per cent while Bovis Homes’ shares closed 3.84 per cent higher as the government announced it will increase the fund [...]
Development rules set to be streamlined in 2012 March 21, 2012 NEW guidelines designed to streamline the development process will be published next Tuesday and come into effect immediately. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), developed by communities secretary Eric Pickles and planning minister Greg Clark, aims to boost the economy by introducing a presumption in favour of sustainable development. George Osborne was triumphant over the [...]
Privatised roads could be on the way as chancellor confirms plan to reform March 21, 2012 THE CHANCELLOR confirmed that he will look into privatising some of Britain’s roads, weeks after the plan first leaked. The coalition will reveal in this year’s Autumn Statement whether it plans “to go further” with a scheme for “new ownership and financing model for the national road network”. Osborne said he would be “learning lessons [...]
