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 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 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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
“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 [...]
In what may be seen as a final act of desperation by a morally, legally and financially bankrupt UK government, the Treasury, having failed to “crack down” on what it sees as tax avoidance by banks (the UK courts don’t agree with HMRC) has now come out with a “Voluntary Code”. Not only is this daft [...]
Investing Offshore can be a very attractive option for the discerning investor who would like to explore other markets, shield his or her investments from potential capital lawsuits, or grow them in a confidential, secure investment not governed by the rules and regulations of their home jurisdiction. Over a year ago I posted an article [...]
This is the UK government department, headed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which is responsible for managing the country’s public revenues. In recent years it hasn’t had the best of records (despite many ill-informed commentators promoting Gordon Brown as a “prudent” chancellor – HAH!!!) as can clearly be seen by anyone who looks at [...]
£130 Million wasted in yet another “quick fix” Labour initiative! Three years ago the Labour government announced that the UK Passport & Identity Service (part of the Home Office) had estimated that 10,000 false passports were issued every year. This was, they said, unacceptable and a new procedure which would see all new applicants face an [...]
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next year Britain will have the biggest debt of any major economy. So much for prudent Gordon Brown. According to the IMF Britain’s budget deficit will be a horrendous £191 billion. This equates to £7,600 for every family in the UK. Not only is this much higher than [...]
Harriet Harman, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party but not (thank goodness) the official Deputy Prime Minister, has come up with the daft idea of teaching 5-year old boys that it is wrong to be a wife-beater. Hmmm. I’d have thought that the vast majority of 5-year olds would never have come across or thought [...]
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are convinced that there is widespread tax avoidance in the construction industry and have recently issued a consultation paper outlining their proposals for tackling the problem – proposals which are likely to result in a substantially higher tax burden for many genuinely self-employed workers as well as more red [...]
The Isle of Man is best known, albeit unfairly, as an offshore “tax haven” but the fact is that less than 30% of the islands economy is related to the finance sector. Indeed the Isle of Man is a successful international business centre with a large manufacturing base. Over 90% of the world’s electric kettle [...]
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 is the Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a regulator for insurance, investment business and banking. This was the Act by which Gordon Brown removed responsibility for regulating the banking industry from the Bank of England, a decision that [...]
