Pompey bid to cut deal over winding-up hearing February 9, 2010 DESPERATE Portsmouth appeared to lurch closer to becoming the first top flight club to go into administration last night when talks with HM Revenue and Customs were believed to have broken down. The south coast outfit is expected to ask for an adjournment when they appear in the High Court this morning to face a [...]
New Pompey owner applies for stay of execution February 4, 2010 PORTSMOUTH have appealed for next week’s potentially fatal winding-up hearing to be delayed after being taken over by Hong Kong businessman Balram Chainrai. Chainrai’s company Portpin was yesterday confirmed as the financially-stricken club’s fourth owner in the space of six months. The 51-year-old took charge after previous owner Ali Al-Faraj defaulted on a loan repayment, [...]
Paternity leave threat to firms February 4, 2010 FOR years employers have been wary about giving jobs to women of child-bearing age, but they might soon be casting nervous glances at the males in their offices, too. As of 6 April next year a father will be allowed to take up to 26 weeks additional paternity leave in the first year of their [...]
Brokers stuck in limbo over the bonus tax February 2, 2010 UK TAX authorities have demanded access to fresh information about the risk profiles of the City’s independent stockbrokers to determine if they will be hit by the government’s Bank Payroll Tax (BPT), City A.M. has learned. Brokers are still in limbo as they await a decision on the tax, two months after it was first [...]
Gunners reach the summit January 20, 2010 ARSENAL (4) vs. BOLTON WANDERERS (2) ARSENE WENGER’S young Arsenal side showed the character of champions as they clawed their way back from two goals down to hit the Premier League summit. Gary Cahill and a Matthew Taylor penalty fired the visitors into a shock 2-0 lead inside the opening 28 minutes to leave the [...]
Portsmouth suffer High Court defeat January 19, 2010 PORTSMOUTH’S battle to avoid administration suffered another blow yesterday when they lost their High Court bid to have a winding-up order struck out. Pompey failed to convince Mr Justice Newey that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs had overcalculated the VAT portion of their mammoth tax bill by £7.5m. The Premier League’s bottom club hinted last [...]
Insolvencies to peak in 2010 as state props are withdrawn January 18, 2010 THE rate of corporate failures will accelerate in the second half of 2010 as government stimulus measures are unwound, insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor warned yesterday. The firm said 140,000 British companies suffered significant financial problems in the fourth quarter despite measures such as quantitative easing and the 2.5 per cent VAT cut. Begbies Traynor executive [...]
Businesses are not out of the woods just yet January 13, 2010 DAVID HUDSON LONDON HEAD OF CORPORATE INSOLVENCY, BAKER TILLY WHILE businesses fail during recessions, many also fail coming out, having spent the cash reserves during the hard times that they so crucially need when they have to grow again to serve a more confident customer base, against revitalised competition. The underlying message of Baker Tilly’s [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 5, 2010 WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING FINANCIAL TIMES ALWALEED’S CITI SHARES TO BOLSTER KINGDOM Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al-Saud, the Saudi investor, revealed on Tuesday that he plans to shore up the balance sheet of his investment vehicle by “donating” SR2.24bn (€416m) of shares in Citigroup into it. Prince Alwaleed said the initiative would [...]
CITY FIRMS SET TO ESCAPE SUPER TAX December 21, 2009 INDEPENDENT insurers, asset managers and stockbrokers in the City can breathe a sigh of relief today after the government ended almost a fortnight of tense speculation by confirming they will not be subject to its super-tax on bank bonuses. Under the new rules, which will still see banks charged at a rate of 50 per [...]