Posts Tagged ‘chancellor’

Retailers have given up trying to convince chancellor Alistair Darling that a VAT rise back to 17.5 per cent on January 1 would be a bad move for the trade.
Despire warnings that the move could hit growth in the crucial first quarter of 2010, the chancellor is committed to the plan, though some stores [...]

Debenhams chief executive, Rob Templeman, has made it clear he’s standing shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow retailers in lambasting the Government’s plan to implement the scheduled VAT increase (back to 17.5 per cent) on New Year’s Day. Asserting that chancellor Alistair Darling’s universally criticized decision is a “complete misjudgement”, pointing out that for Debenhams to change every [...]

The toy retailer Hamleys has added its voice to the growing clamour of retailers urging chancellor Alistair Darling to delay the proposed VAT increase, currently scheduled to take place on the incredibly un-retailer-friendly date of January 1. CEO Gudjon Reynisson says the increase should be postponed until consumer confidence has returned.
The chancellor’s idea has [...]

As increasing numbers of retailers protest the Chancellor Alistair Darling’s current decision to raise VAT back to 17.5 per cent on December 31 2009 (Give it up Al!), the British Retail Consortium is calling upon the Government to improve upon the scarcely beneficial credit insurance scheme announced in June and take firm action over bank [...]

Tesco is urging Chancellor Alistair Darling (does this man EVER go shopping?) to postpone the VAT rise, which is scheduled to take place on December 31st. This will be the second year running that the Government, in its supposedly greater wisdom, has decided to turn the retail world upside down at its busiest time, after reducing [...]

I must confess that despite the glorious sunshine I began the morning in rather an angry mood. First up on the annoyance list was the train (what else) which was running late because - and I quote - London Midland was: “Awaiting a driver.” Storming off for a walk along the canal, the connection between [...]

With the Budget less than a week away retail industry leaders are stepping up pressure on chancellor Alistair Darling to implement measures that will help support the trade through the economic downturn.
The BRC has been relentless in urging the chancellor to rethink any plans to raise business rates warning that over 19,000 retail jobs could [...]

The CBI is not relenting on its stance towards the Government’s proposed rise in interest rates. The Confederation today issued a statement which insists that the zero percent inflation of the Retail Price Index highlights the misguided nature of the 5 per cent rise in business rates to be paid by companies to local authorities. [...]

The Sunday Times has caught up with Trading Talk and reported on the looming threat of Britain’s high streets turning into ghost towns, with worrying numbers of retailers shutting up shop and 15 per cent of the UK’s retail floor space set to be vacant by the end of 2000. (139,500 stores according to recent [...]