Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has come under renewed pressure to slash value-added tax to prop up the ailing hospitality industry, after a major survey found more than one-third of businesses are at risk of failure in early 2023.
The cost of doing business crisis was cited by groups representing huge swathes of the hospitality and brewing sectors yesterday as 35 per cent of respondents said they expect to be operating at a loss or unviable by the end of the year.
The survey, conducted by UKHospitality, the British Beer & Pub Association, the British Institute of Innkeeping and Hospitality Ulster, underlined the impact of rampant inflation on consumer confidence, with 77% of operators stating they had seen a decrease in people eating and drinking out, and 85% expecting this to decline further.
Some 89% of respondents said they were either not confident or pessimistic that the current levels of support offered by government will protect the industry in the next six months – sparking fresh demands for ministers to slash the rate of VAT applied to the industry and for relief from business rates.
Calls for higher windfall tax intensify as oil giant BP posts huge profits
The pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to increase the windfall tax on the extraordinary profits currently being made by oil and gas companies has intensified after BP unveiled a further round of hefty profits.
As UK consumers face the prospect of support for household fuel bills being cut off from next spring, instead of the two years pledged by the Truss administration in September, BP continued to reap the benefits of the surge in commodity prices that has followed Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Decline in mortgage approvals bolsters predictions for falling house prices
Mortgage approvals for home buyers fell significantly in September as rising interest rates and cost-of-living concerns eroded demand and weighed on market activity.
Official data from the Bank of England (BoE) put the number of approvals last month at 66,800, down 10 per cent from August’s figure of 74,400 and below the six-month average of 67,200. Economists predict the downward trend will continue.
Scottish accountancy firm AAB Group acquires May Figures
Scottish accountancy firm AAB has unveiled a “key acquisition” to expand its research and development tax credit services offering across the UK and Ireland.
It has acquired English professional services firm May Figures Ltd, which was established in 2013 by Julia May and Mark Graves, for an undisclosed sum.
The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions and mergers as AAB has expanded rapidly.
Scottish law firm revives expansion plans to stay 'fit for future'
Scottish legal firm Ledingham Chalmers has resurrected expansion plans made before the Covid pandemic with the acquisition of Inverness-based Anderson Shaw & Gilbert (ASG).
The deal brings two new partners into the fold at Aberdeen-based Ledingham Chalmers, taking the total to 29. The combined firm will have an overall headcount of 196 and revenues of approximately £14 million.
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