Author Archive
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Weak pay growth threatens UK economy
A survey of employees showed an ongoing lack of pay pressures in the UK economy at the end of the first quarter. The poll, carried out by IPSOS Mori on behalf of Markit, which is best known for its Purchasing Managers' Index, found that just one-in-five employees expect their pay to rise by 2% or more in 2015. At the same time, just over one-in-three employees expect to see their pay frozen compared with 2014, while a ...
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Funding for agricultural innovators
Over 70 businesses and universities from across the UK have secured a share £16 million from government and industry to develop 25 innovative ideas that should boost UK agriculture. The 25 projects form the third round of funding to be distributed through the Agri-Tech Catalyst which supports collaborative research between scientists and businesses to springboard projects from the lab to the market place. Innovations in this round include the "Sunshine Egg" – a project to help reduce vitamin ...
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Unsecured debt surpasses pre-crisis peak
The average UK household is set to owe close to £10,000 in unsecured debt by the end of 2016, more than ever before in cash terms, according to PwC’s latest report on the Consumer Credit market. Total outstanding unsecured borrowing grew by nearly £20 billion in 2014 or 9%, its fastest rate of growth in at least a decade, to reach £239 billon or close to £9,000 per household in 2014. In cash terms, the figure ...
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IT problems hit Basic Payment Scheme
IT problems at the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) mean that farmers and their agents will have to resort to pen and paper to complete their applications for the Basic Payment Scheme. The Agency is still promising to make payments from December 2015 but apart from registering, farmers will not be asked to enter any further data online. From 23rd March, two forms will be available to download from the RPA's website. These are: RLE1, which ...
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Business rates up for review
HM Treasury has launched a wide-ranging review of national business rates, examining the structure of the current system which is paid annually on 1.8 million properties in England. It will look at how businesses use property, what the UK can learn from other countries about local business taxes, and how the system could be modernised to reflect changes in the value of property. The review is set to report back by Budget 2016.
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Agricultural apprentices up 25%
There have been over 36,000 applications for apprenticeships in the food and farming sector in the past year, a nine fold increase since 2010. According to government figures, more than 7,000 young people embarked on agricultural related apprenticeships with the figure up almost 25% since 2010. Environment Secretary, Elizabeth Truss, comments: "The Government is partnering up with industry to open up more apprenticeships in the sector, as farming alone will need tens of thousands of new people ...
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Intellectual Property – help with impressing lenders
UK businesses can now benefit from a toolkit that can people understand and present the value of their Intellectual Property (IP) to potential lenders. The toolkit aims to: help lenders and businesses talk the same language when understanding the value of IP encourage and guide businesses to document their IP assets ahead of any application for finance help businesses to develop more effective IP management and commercialisation strategies raise awareness of the wide variety of finance options available for IP-rich businesses According to the Intellectual Property Office, ...
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UK CEOs remain confident
PwC's latest Global CEO Survey shows that UK CEOs are more confident than their European peers, although the high levels of optimism seen last year have been tempered by concerns about access to key skills, disruptive trends and geopolitical uncertainty. Growth prospects are less bullish when it comes to the overall outlook for the global economy and when asked about the most important countries for company growth, 48% of UK respondents said the US, followed by ...
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Worried/Bamboozled/Angry about Developer Contributions?
You are not alone! Councils require financial and other contributions from developers as part of the planning permission for many types of development and this is usually on top of any highway or drainage works that may be required. Usually the person paying for the contributions is not the developer but the land owner or the end user. Developer contributions come in two forms- Section 106 Agreements – these are legal agreements between the Council and ...
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New water and woodland grants for farmers
Environment Minister, Dan Rogerson, has announced that Natural England will be accepting applications for Water Capital Grants from 2nd March. Providing £10 million worth of government funding to the farm industry, the grants will help fund new projects to reduce the impact agriculture can have on water quality. Farmers, land managers and foresters are also being encouraged to apply for Woodland Capital Grants, worth a total of £4 million, to create new woodland. The Water and Woodland Capital ...
