What's going to collapse next...

[sancho panza]

45 minutes ago, TheCountOfNowhere said:

Wait till the council start upping the rates there!!!

A lot of the problems we are now seeing can be related to the councils upping their rates a couple of years ago.

My barber at the time had to raise hie prices 20% over night.  I ended up buying my own shaver and do it myself.  There will be plenty more who did the same.

 

Thy're mainly in Tory council areas,not a coincidence.

[Wheeler]

52 minutes ago, TheCountOfNowhere said:

Wait till the council start upping the rates there!!!

A lot of the problems we are now seeing can be related to the councils upping their rates a couple of years ago.

My barber at the time had to raise hie prices 20% over night.  I ended up buying my own shaver and do it myself.  There will be plenty more who did the same.

 

Just to point out that business rates are set nationally. All the local council does is collect and pass them on to central government. The rating valuations are also done nationally.

Of course parking fees/restrictions are local.

[sancho panza]

30 minutes ago, Wheeler said:

Just to point out that business rates are set nationally. All the local council does is collect and pass them on to central government. The rating valuations are also done nationally.

Of course parking fees/restrictions are local.

I thought like you but....

https://www.local.gov.uk/topics/finance-and-business-rates/local-taxation-council-tax-and-business-rates

Business Rates

Business rates are set by central government, which sets the multiplier, a pence in the pound value which is then applied to the rateable value, an estimate of the open market rental value a property could achieve on a specified date. Properties with a rateable value of £12,000 or less are exempt from business rates and those up to £15,000 are eligible for small business rates relief. There are other reliefs and exemptions, including an 80 per cent discount for properties used by charities.

Currently local government, collectively retains half of the income from business rates, the other half is paid by councils to central government, which uses the income to fund grants to local authorities. The previous Government announced plans for the local government sector to retain all business rates by 2020. There is more information about the proposals on our business rates retention page.

Property valuations for both council tax and business rates are the responsibility of a national body, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). Property valuations for business rates are updated on a five-year cycle. The most recent revaluation came into force in April 2017, based on property values in April 2015. Both council tax and business rates payers are able to challenge their property's valuation with the VOA.

[Wheeler]

7 minutes ago, sancho panza said:

I thought like you but....

https://www.local.gov.uk/topics/finance-and-business-rates/local-taxation-council-tax-and-business-rates

Business Rates

Business rates are set by central government, which sets the multiplier, a pence in the pound value which is then applied to the rateable value, an estimate of the open market rental value a property could achieve on a specified date. Properties with a rateable value of £12,000 or less are exempt from business rates and those up to £15,000 are eligible for small business rates relief. There are other reliefs and exemptions, including an 80 per cent discount for properties used by charities.

Currently local government, collectively retains half of the income from business rates, the other half is paid by councils to central government, which uses the income to fund grants to local authorities. The previous Government announced plans for the local government sector to retain all business rates by 2020. There is more information about the proposals on our business rates retention page.

Property valuations for both council tax and business rates are the responsibility of a national body, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). Property valuations for business rates are updated on a five-year cycle. The most recent revaluation came into force in April 2017, based on property values in April 2015. Both council tax and business rates payers are able to challenge their property's valuation with the VOA.

Thanks SP. I must admit it's over 10 years since I last worked on a business rates system for a local council; the nightmares around property splits/mergers and transitional relief have long since faded.

This means there is more incentive for local councils to try and attract business to the area, and cut down on charity shops, if they get to keep the income. What they can't do though is alter the rates.

 

[TheCountOfNowhere]

1 hour ago, sancho panza said:

Check this one out Frank.In Leicester they've made access that difficult ie you can't park anyhwhere near the town centre and the buses stop a fair distance away,most people have jsut given up I think.Some beuatiful old buildings are jsut sat empty.If you want to earn a salary as a shopkeeper you could probably afford the business rates but the rent would have to be zero.

A bit like concentration camps in 1944/1945 

[Frank Hovis]

1 hour ago, sancho panza said:

Check this one out Frank.In Leicester they've made access that difficult ie you can't park anyhwhere near the town centre and the buses stop a fair distance away,most people have jsut given up I think.Some beuatiful old buildings are jsut sat empty.If you want to earn a salary as a shopkeeper you could probably afford the business rates but the rent would have to be zero.

It's looking terminal.

As I've said change happens and I would rather town centres were no longer also shopping centres.

[spygirl]

1 hour ago, Wheeler said:

Just to point out that business rates are set nationally. All the local council does is collect and pass them on to central government. The rating valuations are also done nationally.

Of course parking fees/restrictions are local.

The thing with business rates is, as they are based on rent, then they ought to be falling like a brick.

 

[sancho panza]

cant be long now

[spygirl]

2 minutes ago, sancho panza said:

cant be long now

Amazing isn't it. Especially as the share pgive increase and fall trail Labour enteringing n leaving government.

Had a look at Serco.

I remember current CEO being brought in, to handle the fallout if, well, everything.

Share price had halved by May 14.

Carried on, halving again. Now just bounces around at the bottom if its share price history.

[sancho panza]

5 minutes ago, spygirl said:

Amazing isn't it. Especially as the share pgive increase and fall trail Labour enteringing n leaving government.

Had a look at Serco.

I remember current CEO being brought in, to handle the fallout if, well, everything.

Share price had halved by May 14.

Carried on, halving again. Now just bounces around at the bottom if its share price history.

Serco actually in reasonable shape compared to Countrywide,officially 99.995% off peak.

Hear me now....

[Chewing Grass]

19 minutes ago, sancho panza said:

cant be long now

Capita were up the arse of New Labour and made shit-loads of money shitting on public sector workers.

As soon as their buddies were out of office the engine started to sputter but carried on till the next election briefly picking up speed in hope that a refuelling tanker was insight.

When it failed to materialise it packed in one they couldn't cut costs and wages anymore.

 

[spygirl]

Intu are flexing their finger, ready to press the admin button.

Spend the last  few weeks going - Ill do it, Ill do it..

 

 

[spygirl]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53136807

Well shut them .....

 

[spygirl]

Ex-Wirecard chief Markus Braun arrested

Prosecutors accuse him of inflating German fintech company’s balance sheet and revenues

https://www.ft.com/content/30dd3df6-1db3-430a-b4d3-e4a114568410

[TheCountOfNowhere]

40 minutes ago, spygirl said:

Ex-Wirecard chief Markus Braun arrested

Prosecutors accuse him of inflating German fintech company’s balance sheet and revenues

https://www.ft.com/content/30dd3df6-1db3-430a-b4d3-e4a114568410

Ponzi-tastic

[Chewing Grass]

58 minutes ago, spygirl said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53136807

Well shut them .....

Shut them, they are obsolete, the future is online and local and it will revitalise town & city centres.

The Mega Malls are 1980s capitalism gone wrong.

[Sasquatch]

I truly hate shopping centres....and ikea.

A few years ago I was sent to Ikea to buy some bits and bobs for the house. I had an 'episode' half way round, dumped the trolley and legged it for the exit. True story. Mrs S not impressed at the time (I think she called me a baby) but it has got me out of most forms of shopping since. 

[Option5]

4 minutes ago, Sasquatch said:

I truly hate shopping centres....and ikea.

A few years ago I was sent to Ikea to buy some bits and bobs for the house. I had an 'episode' half way round, dumped the trolley and legged it for the exit. True story. Mrs S not impressed at the time (I think she called me a baby) but it has got me out of most forms of shopping since. 

IKEA stores were all designed by Daedalus.

[Gloommonger]

1 hour ago, spygirl said:

Ex-Wirecard chief Markus Braun arrested

Prosecutors accuse him of inflating German fintech company’s balance sheet and revenues

https://www.ft.com/content/30dd3df6-1db3-430a-b4d3-e4a114568410

Halve his bonus and pension, that will send a message to his peers!

[TheCountOfNowhere]

1 hour ago, Option5 said:

IKEA stores were all designed by Daedalus Diddle-us.

 

[spygirl]

1 hour ago, Sasquatch said:

I truly hate shopping centres....and ikea.

A few years ago I was sent to Ikea to buy some bits and bobs for the house. I had an 'episode' half way round, dumped the trolley and legged it for the exit. True story. Mrs S not impressed at the time (I think she called me a baby) but it has got me out of most forms of shopping since. 

If all the stuff in IKEA was shit Id not have a problem.

However .... they do have some stuff. It tends to be well hidden amongst the shoddily built furniture.

I tend to browse the website, then go and check stuff.

When they were younger, my kids used to love going, as theyd be put in the kiddy prison.

 

 

[Sasquatch]

24 minutes ago, spygirl said:

If all the stuff in IKEA was shit Id not have a problem.

However .... they do have some stuff. It tends to be well hidden amongst the shoddily built furniture.

I tend to browse the website, then go and check stuff.

When they were younger, my kids used to love going, as theyd be put in the kiddy prison.

 

 

I think I'd have preferred the ball pool.

To be fair, all of our office furniture is from Ikea (other than the chairs), Still going strong after 15 years. However I am older and more miserable these days. Therefore all shops with one way systems have to go. I'll email Boris in a jiffy.

[Frank Hovis]

14 hours ago, Chewing Grass said:

Capita were up the arse of New Labour and made shit-loads of money shitting on public sector workers.

As soon as their buddies were out of office the engine started to sputter but carried on till the next election briefly picking up speed in hope that a refuelling tanker was insight.

When it failed to materialise it packed in one they couldn't cut costs and wages anymore.

 

Yes, I was working there and this is correct with regard to the big publc contracts.  All very matey with NuLab and with significant donations to party funds.  The Chairman had to step down when I was there as a consequence of it coming out in the press.

I hadn't realised how much the shares had tanked.  I joined about the time of the first dip and bought shares through the savings scheme at the maximum level before selling them upon leaving at a big profit at about the time of the second peak; that's partly lucky but equally had they not been that much higher I might have held on to them.

Which might have been a mistake.

I worked on the private contracts side but we all knew very well that the real money was in big public outsourcing as the profits were much higher.

I'm not tempted to buy now; the intrinsic value of the group is low and it's only holding the proiftable contracts that give it value.

 

[Popuplights]

7 hours ago, Sasquatch said:

truly hate shopping centres....and ikea.

The only way to shop in IKEA is to take the shortcuts. Directly to the café. Get a cheap coffee, and a medium portion of horse meatballs and chips. Remain there until your wife needs driving home.

[sancho panza]

hattip David Rosenberg Twitter

Check these c**** out.

https://www.egi.co.uk/news/brookfield-sues-over-rents-while-skipping-mortgage-payments/

 

Brookfield sues over rents while skipping mortgage payments

Canadian investment group Brookfield is chasing retailers for rents even as it skips payments on its mortgages. Brookfield last week became the second major landlord to sue Gap over unpaid rent and is insisting stall-holders at its malls pay rent for April and May despite the malls being closed. The landlord, meanwhile, has asked its debt-holders for “forebearance”.