Give your business a boost and ‘move on up’ to North East England September 8, 2021 The coronavirus pandemic has seen organisations in all sectors find new, innovative ways of working. From remote and hybrid offices, to the adoption of new digital technologies like video conferencing and cloud computing; the pace of change has been unprecedented. Another significant trend – one that was well established before the pandemic but has continued [...]
PM hikes National Insurance and dividends tax by 1.25 per cent to pay for NHS and social care reform September 7, 2021 Britons will be hit with £12bn-a-year tax rises to pay for increases in NHS and social care spending, with National Insurance and dividends tax in Boris Johnson’s crosshairs. A new Health and Social Care Levy will effectively hike National Insurance Contributions for employees and employers by 1.25 per cent from April 2022, while taxes on [...]
Brokers and investment platforms plummet on dividend tax hike September 7, 2021 Shares in investment platforms and brokers plummeted today after prime minister Boris Johnson announced a hike to dividend taxes. Broker, TP Icap, had 9.14 per cent shaved off its share price, plummeting to 179.04p from a day high of 196.60p. Investment platforms AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown both suffered heavy losses, down 2.07 per cent [...]
Government breaches another manifesto pledge by denying full triple lock uplift September 7, 2021 The government has breached another manifesto pledge and scrapped the normal functioning of the state pension triple lock, it announced today. In a statement delivered to the House of Commons today, secretary of state for work and pensions Thérèse Coffey announced the government will employ a triple lock lite, denying millions of pensioners an uplift [...]
What does it really take to win the title Master of Wine? September 7, 2021 There are only 419 living Masters of Wine in the world, and a further 77 who are no longer with us, which means that more people have been in space than have successfully passed this rigorous test of wine academia. This total includes the three Masters of Wine who joined the ranks just last month, [...]
Lee Wilson CA on helping some of business’s biggest players get to grips with cryptocurrency September 7, 2021 This article first appeared in ICAS’ CA magazine. Lee Wilson CA, Head of Finance at Elliptic, is helping some of business’s biggest players get to grips with cryptocurrency. He gives Ryan Herman a whistle-stop tour of an industry set to influence all our lives. One of the more surprising aspects of the pandemic has been the [...]
Retail sales growth slowed in August amid recovery warnings September 7, 2021 Retail sales growth has started to slow as shoppers’ pent-up enthusiasm has softened this summer. Total sales increased by 3 per cent in August, below the three month average growth of 6.9 per cent. Clothing retailers reported strong performances as Brits looked to stock up their post-lockdown wardrobes with outfits for weddings and returning to [...]
Dominic Raab’s House of Commons aide raises concerns about vaccine passports September 6, 2021 Dominic Raab’s parliamentary assistant has today raised concerns over the government’s plan to introduce mandatory vaccine passports for large events. Tory MP Joy Morrissey, the parliamentary private secretary for the Foreign Office, has broken with the government’s stance and tweeted she was “very concerned at the idea of vaccine passports generally, but in particular the [...]
IoD: Hiking national insurance to pay for social care is illogical September 6, 2021 The Institute of Directors has criticised the government’s reported decision to hike national insurance to pay for social care and clearing the backlog of NHS work. The influential organisation that represents UK business leaders said using national insurance to fund social care is illogical as the levy is intended to provide a safety net for [...]
Former Sainsbury’s CEO Mike Coupe made New Look chairman September 6, 2021 Former Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe is to take on the role of non-executive chairman at New Look. Coupe will move to the retailer after working as testing director of NHS Test and Trace since last autumn. The former supermarket boss will succeed Alistair McGeorge at the clothing retailer, effective September 29. “As a leading womenswear [...]