Some 100,000 employees of the state owned British Steel Corporation (BSC) caused the shut down of the company’s furnaces in protest at what they called a “derisory offer” of 6% pay increase from their management. The strike quickly spread to privately owned steelworks. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher condemned the strike – called by the Iron [...]
The Combined Code on Corporate Governance * is published by the Financial Reporting Council and applies to all UK incorporated companies (and some foreign companies) listed on the UK Stock Exchange. The most recent (2008) version of the Code combines the Cadbury and Greenbury reports on corporate governance, the Turnbull Report on Internal Control (revised [...]
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is to introduce “premium” and “standard” listings from April next year. At first glance, the changes being introduced to listings on the LSE might appear little more than cosmetic, with the existing categories of “primary” and “secondary” listings set to be replaced with “premium” and “standard” listings. But closer examination [...]
The British Business Angels Association (“BBAA”) is a trade association representing UK business angel networks, associates and affiliates. Business Angels invest in business startup companies. These are the same sorts of business that venture capitalists invest in but Angels invest their own money, unlike venture capitalists, who manage the pooled money of others in a [...]
The term Venture Capital refers to an investment made in a new or nearly new company either to get it off the ground (known as seed funding) or to provide capital for growth – surprisingly known as growth funding). Venture capital investments are usually made in cash in exchange for shares in the invested company [...]
In recent weeks the term Sovereign Debt has been bandied about by the media leaving many people puzzled as what it actually is. What it isn’t is money owed by a King or Queen of a country – Republics do have Sovereign Debt; you don’t need a Monarch! Joking aside, in simple terms Sovereign Debt [...]
Back in June of 2008 I told readers of this blog about my discussion with Des Browne, who at that time, in addition to being Member of Parliament for Kilmarnock & Loudon had two Westminster jobs; that of Defence Secretary and Secretary of State for Scotland. A bit odd really to have two part-time jobs, [...]
Any business can claim tax allowances, called capital allowances, on certain purchases or investments. This results in a reduction in the business tax bill – which can’t be bad. In general capital allowances are available on plant and machinery, buildings – including converting space above commercial premises to flats for renting – and research and [...]
I’ve suddenly had a lot of people contact me to ask the above question regarding the tax free ISA (Individual Savings Account) products that are available to UK taxpayers. This is probably due to changes that came in last month. If you don’t know what an ISA is then have a look at this earlier article. [...]
I attended a very interesting meeting last night organised by the Isle of Man Junior Chamber of Commerce (“JCC”) at the Hilton Hotel. A packed audience was addressed by Chief Minister Tony Brown on the subject of the recent change to the VAT agreement the island has with the UK. This change is likely to [...]
For some unknown reason, business owners and managers make things more complicated and complex than they need to. Frankly business is not that complicated. A business exists to make a profit. If it doesn’t then give it up. In order to make a profit a business must offer a product or service that has appeal within a market, it [...]
It has long been suspected that there is widespread under collection of VAT throughout the European Union. But until now no one realised just how big the figures were. Talk about pouring cash down the toilet! There are a number of reasons for the shortfall some relating to systematic fraud (such as “carousel fraud” on [...]
Marketing for small business is different than marketing for national or international brands, which enjoy instant name recognition. By contrast, small business marketing relies heavily on word of mouth and on building and maintaining personal relationships. This article isn’t about finding new customers, it is about hanging on to the ones you have and building [...]
No one likes getting complaints from customers but the fact is that if you handle a complaint well you can make the complainer into an asset – someone who will praise your business. OK, we all know that there are some people you can never please no matter what you do and there are some [...]
In the current economic situation and with more people leaving regular employment and setting up as consultants, it has become much more acceptable to run your business from home. Apart from anything else, running a new business from the spare bedroom removes a whole layer of cost and risk, and makes it a lot more [...]
When I trained as a tax accountant many years ago there was a clear understanding that my duty was to my client and whilst I should not collude in illegal tax evasion or financial irregularity I owed no duty to “rat” on clients to the authorities. Indeed it was always accepted that anything told to [...]
“Transfer pricing” is an increasingly important and contentious area of international tax law. This is because so much of modern world trade involves the transfer of goods, intangibles or services within multinational enterprises (MNEs) – groups of companies or related businesses based in 2 or more countries. Such international trade offers scope for an MNE [...]
On his 2008 Presidential campaign trail, Barack Obama made his hostility toward “offshore” jurisdictions very clear: “There’s a building in the Cayman Islands that houses supposedly 12,000 U.S.-based corporations. That’s either the biggest building in the world or the biggest tax scam in the world, and we know which one it is.” I know that [...]
Most people have heard of Gross Domestic Product (sometimes called Gross Domestic Income) or GDP but few have heard of Gross National Product (GNP). To understand GNP you first have to understand GDP and fuller details can be found elsewhere on this site. A simple definition of the diference between GNP and GDP is this: [...]
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or Gross Domestic Income (GDI) is a measure of a country’s overall economic output in monetary terms. GDP is normally calculated each quarter and is considered a major indication of the economic health of a country. GDP can be measured in three ways: Production (GDP(P)): This measures the Gross Domestic [...]
