The CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment Scheme) which was thought to be recycled back to participants as an incentive to reduce omissions has had some further consultation. Those likely to be affected to take a hit, probably at the same time as VAT being hiked, are big high street chains such as Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Argos, etc .
The 2.5% VAT increase comes into force on 4 January 2011, and it’s being suggested that up to a third of consumers plan to make big purchases before then, to make savings, say uSwitch.com. Just under half of this spending will be on electronic gadgets, while 36% will go on white goods and 29% on holidays, with around a fifth of money being spent on car purchases that have been brought forward, and 8 out of 10 people said they thought the rise would have an impact on their finances next year.
According to Nationwide, house prices fell for the fourth month in five (November), claiming that the average price of property fell 0.3%, a slightly bigger drop than the 0.2% fall forecast by analysts, with the annual rate of growth falling to 0.4%. Their chief economist has said that supply pressures were starting ‘to ease and there was little to suggest house price declines would accelerate in the months ahead’.
Apparently WikiLeaks plans to release tens of thousands of internal documents from a major U.S. Bank, early next year. The Bank hasn’t yet been identified but apparently the release would `lead to investigations’, with one being a `megaleak’ about a Bank `still in existence… that will give a true and representative insight into how Banks behave at Executive level’.
CCH, Accounting and Tax information provider, has a UK business league-table which shows which businesses are maximising their returns on the capital they invest in their businesses, and is an interesting indicator or how different industry has reacted to the downturn. ROCE: Return On Capital Employed.
Ranking – Industry sector – Average ROCE%
1 Retail of fruit and vegetables: 33.04%
2 Veterinary activities: 32.64%
3 Plastering: 31.725%
4 Legal activities: 29.45%
5 Dental practice activities: 23.545%
6 Driving school activities: 21.895%
7 Floor and wall covering: 20.575%
8 Insulation work activities: 19.955%
9 Other building installation: 19.65%
10 Erection of roof covering & frames: 19.4%
11 Wholesale of waste and scrap: 18.55%
12 Joinery Installations:18.315%
13 Manufacture of luggage & the like, saddlery: 17.25%
14 Plumbing: 17.2%
15 Painting and glazing: 16.815%
16 Manufacture of taps and valves: 16.68%
17 Retail of meat and meat products: 16.66%
18 Installation electrical wiring etc: 16.05%
19 Security broking & fund management: 15.745%
20 Services to oil and gas extraction: 15.7%
(Image and Article credit: Copyright SUF)
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