Business news 10 June 2022
James Salmon, Operations Director.
Tax burden too high, admits Johnson. Haulage firm collapse blamed on fuel costs. Fuel duties earn Treasury £4.4m a day as prices hit new record highs. Questions raised over PM’s ‘benefits into bricks’ plan. Price rises hit UK shoppers hardest . And more business news.
Tax burden too high, admits Johnson
Boris Johnson on Thursday said the burden of high tax rates must come down insisting the answer to the current economic predicament is not more tax. “It’s an aberration,” he said, “caused in no small part by the fiscal meteorite of COVID.” Mr Johnson added: “The answer is economic growth. And you can’t spend your way out of inflation and you can’t tax your way into growth.” The PM went on to say that, with the pandemic now out of the way, the Government could “enact the supply-side reforms that will cut the costs of government, cut costs for business and cut costs for people across the country.” His comments came as he launched a review of the mortgage market with the view to increasing home ownership.
Haulage firm collapse blamed on fuel costs
West Midlands haulage firm Adam Jones and Sons has collapsed resulting in 50 staff being made redundant. A statement released by administrators FRP Advisory said the company had been unable to return to profitability after losses incurred during the pandemic and driver shortages and fuel costs had made things worse.
Do you work with any other firms who might be at risk due to rising fuel prices? Do they owe you money on unpaid invoices? CPA can help.
Fuel duties earn Treasury £4.4m a day as prices hit new record highs
Calculations by the Telegraph show British drivers have paid an extra £350m in fuel duties since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. The Treasury is raking in an extra £4.4m a day as the cost of filling a typical family car with petrol passed £100 for the first time on Thursday. The Treasury charges VAT at 20% on road fuels and the RAC says the Government is now taking about 30p in VAT for every litre of road fuel sold on top of the 53p a litre fuel duty rate – so £45 out of every £100 fill-up is tax. RAC spokesman Simon Williams said it was a “truly dark day for drivers”. The RAC and its rival the AA urged the Chancellor to cut VAT on fuel or to reduce fuel duty further.
Questions raised over PM’s ‘benefits into bricks’ plan
Boris Johnson outlined his plan to allow people on housing benefit to use their welfare payments to pay mortgages. The PM wants the £30bn a year paid in housing benefit to count as “income” in mortgage applications. Lenders broadly welcomed the proposal but questioned how people on housing benefit – who cannot hold more than £16,000 in savings to qualify – would secure a big enough deposit to buy a home. Mr Johnson also promised to reform the market so mortgages were available to those with deposits of as little as 2% and extend the right-to-buy policy to housing associations tenants.
Price rises hit UK shoppers hardest
Poundland owner Pepco has revealed that British shoppers are suffering from the cost of living crisis more than European customers. It said high wage growth in central and eastern Europe was offsetting the rising cost of living while customers in the UK were cutting back on core purchases as widespread inflation knocks disposable incomes. UK inflation hit 9% in April, its highest level for more than 40 years, while wage growth sits at a little over 4%. Elsewhere, shares in DFS Furniture fell more than 16% after the sofa retailer warned of a slump in profits as the cost-of-living crisis dented demand for big ticket items.
City economist picked to be Lord Mayor of London in 2023
Michael Mainelli, an economist and former BDO accountant, is to become Lord Mayor of London in 2023 following a secret ballot held by a group of grandees of the Square Mile.
Rishi Sunak blamed for losing £11bn in servicing debt
Calculations by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research suggests the Chancellor squandered £11bn of taxpayers money by paying too much interest servicing the Government’s debt. Last year, when the official interest rate was 0.1%, the institute recommended the Government insure the cost of servicing £895bn of debt created by quantitative easing against the risk of rising interest rates. Jagjit Chadha, the institute’s director, said the Chancellor’s failure to do so had saddled the UK with “an enormous bill and heavy continuing exposure to interest rate risk.”
Interest rates
The European Central Bank has said it intends to raise interest rates for the first time in more than 11 years next month as it tries to control soaring inflation in the eurozone. The ECB said it would raise its key interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point in July, with further hikes planned for later in the year. The bank also intends to end its bond-buying stimulus programme on 1 July.
Meanwhile, the market is betting the Bank of England will deliver a historic half-point interest-rate hike by September to tackle inflation running at its fastest pace in four decades.
Markets
US markets fell sharply on Thursday ahead of a key inflation report as investors worried about the state of the US economy. Overnight, DOW dropped -1.94%. S&P 500 dropped -2.38%. NASDAQ dropped -2.75%. However, Wall Street futures were indicating a moderately positive start to trading on Friday.
Tate & Lyle
Tate & Lyle said its annual profit fell but hailed a “landmark year” which saw it dispose of a 50% stake in its Primary Products business in the Americas. Costs associated with the deal weighed on profit, though annual revenue climbed. For the year ended March 31, the food and beverage ingredients provider’s revenue rose 14% to £1.38 billion from £1.21 billion. Statutory pretax profit fell 54% to £42 million from £90 million.
Friday 5pm deadline for Kirchner
American businessman Chris Kirchner has been given until Friday evening to come up with the funds for Derby County. Administrators Quantuma told Kirchner that while he remains in pole position for now, they will now “engage with other interested parties as a contingency measure” ahead of the deadline
DFS Furniture
DFS Furniture said it has seen a reduction in orders in its fourth quarter. For its third quarter, which ended March 27, it saw double digit growth in the volume of orders versus the same period in financial 2019, which was pre-pandemic.
UK jobs market remains hot for the well-qualified
The monthly jobs report compiled by KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation reveals continued strong demand for staff in the private sector in May. The survey’s index fell for a sixth month to 59.2 from 59.8 in April but remained well above the 50 threshold for growth. Neil Carberry, REC chief executive, said the number of vacancies remained high although there was another slight decrease in the growth rate for salaries and temporary pay. “The market for temporary work is stabilising faster than for permanent staff, which could suggest a little caution creeping into employers’ thinking in the face of high inflation,” he said. Claire Warnes, head of education, skills and productivity at KPMG, added: “Candidate availability is still falling, so it remains a hot market for those well-qualified in their sectors. We will need to closely monitor the impact on recruitment confidence as well as growth appetite in key sectors of the economy.”
Business case justifications for diversity repel minority groups
Research by London Business School and Yale University suggests minority groups are discouraged from applying to companies that make an active business-case for workforce diversity because they feel they are being hired merely for their skin colour or sexual orientation. Some 80% of Fortune 500 companies have claimed employing marginalised groups would increase profits and better serve customers. But researchers found underrepresented groups were repelled by such firms, feeling that their work would always be judged in light of their social identity. “These business-case justifications are extremely popular. But our findings suggest that they do more harm than good,” said lead author Prof Oriane Georgeac, of Yale School of Management. The study, published in the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, also showed that diversity schemes risked alienating traditionally over-represented groups, such as white people. The Telegraph notes that a separate report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities in the UK found that the term “white privilege”, rather than helping to combat racism, actually stoked division and helped marginalise the most disadvantaged.
Why should you become a CPA member!
The Credit Protection Association (CPA) has been assisting thousands of UK businesses to get paid since 1914. We have seen many financial crises, this one will be particularly deadly for suppliers for some time to come.
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It takes less than 17 minutes to see how you would benefit, do you have the time now?
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When you see your money come in, you will be so glad you used CPA.
The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections
Do you have a commercial late payer that is causing you grief? Use CPA’s no-win, no-fee, commercial debt recovery service!
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The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections.
Get compensated for previous late payments
Have you been paid late by business customers in the last six years?
Maybe you no longer work with them. Under legislation, you are entitled to compensation you for those late payments you have suffered.
You put up with the PAIN – now claim the GAIN!
Claim late payment compensation (LPC) from former business customers who paid you late in the last six years!
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The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections.