Britain must look beyond trade deals to turbocharge exports December 9, 2016 In 1860, the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty, widely regarded as the first international trade agreement, was signed at the Foreign Office. French duties on British manufactured goods were slashed and, in return, British duties on French wine and brandy were cut, ushering in three decades of expanding trade – and, presumably, considerable joie de vivre in Britain’s [...]
The London mayor’s ploughed £2.5m into startups since Brexit November 28, 2016 The Mayor of London has ploughed more than £2.5m into the capital's soon-to-be star startups since the vote for Brexit in a bid to show the world the city's "open for business", as he unveiled a new line up of advisors drawn from the UK's ranks of top entrepreneurs and business leaders. Sadiq Khan hailed the London Co-investment [...]
Autumn Statement TL;DR? Here’s our at-a-glance guide November 23, 2016 Chancellor Philip Hammond spoke for around an hour while delivering today's Autumn Statement. If you don't have time for that, here's our at-a-glance overview of the announcements you need to know: Economics, public spending and politics The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast for growth increased to 2.1 per cent, up from two per cent, for 2016, but [...]
Autumn Statement 2016: Planned fuel duty rise scrapped by Philip Hammond in seventh consecutive year of freeze November 23, 2016 Fuel duty has been frozen for the seventh consecutive year, chancellor Philip Hammond announced in today's Autumn Statement. "It is a tax cut worth £850m next year and means the current fuel duty freeze is the longest for 40 years," Hammond said. The duty cancellation will save the average car driver £130 a year and [...]
Salary sacrifice schemes hit in Hammond’s first Autumn Statement November 23, 2016 Employee salary sacrifice schemes such as gym memberships will no longer be tax-free, the chancellor said today. Philip Hammond said in his Autumn Statement that certain benefits employees enjoy tax-free at the moment will no longer be exempt. The Treasury said that the tax and employer National Insurance advantages of salary sacrifice schemes will be [...]
City Moves for 15 November 2016 | Who’s switching jobs November 15, 2016 Harrods Bank Harrods Bank has appointed Mark Stephens as its new chief executive officer. Mark joins Harrods Bank following seven years at Aldermore Bank, most recently in the role of deputy chief executive and group commercial director. Mark will be responsible for the overall leadership and direction of the bank as it enters an exciting [...]
Brexit may finally be hitting the car market after new car sales to consumers fell in October November 4, 2016 The UK new car market grew 1.4 per cent last month with sales of 180,168 new cars, new figures have shown – but individual consumer registrations fell by 1.1 per cent. Growth was led by new fleet registrations, which rose 4.2 per cent, according to figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) [...]
Facebook data and privacy rules sink Admiral’s insurtech plans November 2, 2016 Facebook has sunk plans by Admiral to offer a reduced car insurance premium based on users posts on the social network. It turns out the insurance firm has fallen foul of Facebook's terms of use, which stipulate that data from Facebook can't be used for assessing eligibility. That's exactly what Admiral wanted to do, using posts [...]
Your Facebook profile can’t make your car insurance cheaper, It turns out November 2, 2016 Update: Facebook has blocked plans by Admiral to reduce premiums based on profile data – find out more. Beware what you share – your Facebook status could be giving away more than you think. Insurance firm Admiral is plundering the social network for information that could indicate how safe you are as a driver, resulting in a [...]
Abolishing these 20 taxes will help the poor, says the IEA November 2, 2016 A radical free-market Westminster think thank is claiming it can maintain welfare support and improve the lot of the low-income workers while scrapping nearly every mainstream tax that the government currently imposes. The Institute of Economic Affairs says the controversial plan would see the poorest 10 per cent of the UK enjoying tax cuts worth [...]