Debt
FeedChester City dies in order to be reborn
Martin Cloake
Mar 11th 2010
If you're settling down to watch the Champions League tonight, spare a thought for Chester City FC. The 126-year-old club was wound up today over a debt far less than the weekly wage of most of the players in Europe's top tournament - the club owed £26,125 to the Inland Revenue.What's more extraordinary is that the club's own fans had been actively pushing for its death, something brought closer when the Football Conference, the league in which Chester City played, expelled it last week. The league described its decision as "unparalled in the history of our national sport".
AAA downgrade risk increases for UK
Adrian Holliday
Mar 10th 2010
Filed under: Debt, Economy, Banking , Election 2010
The Brown government needs to be clearer about its planned austerity measures. If it can't, then a downgrade of its AAA credit rating looms.That's the view of Fitch Ratings. Fitch says that though plenty of other EU countries are getting their debt priorities in ordier, the UK is lagging.
Rock losses narrow but bonuses are back
Adrian Holliday
Mar 10th 2010
Filed under: Debt, Economy, Loans, Mortgages, Banking
When you've made a £257m loss is it right to splash out on bonuses? For some, that would be an easy question to answer.Not for Gary Hoffman though, boss of Northern Rock. He's defending the decision to pay out bonuses because he claims Northern Rock is now £500m ahead of government targets put in place to turn the bank around.
Record numbers seek help for debt problems
Money Expert
Mar 10th 2010
Filed under: Debt
The Citizen's Advice Bureau has confirmed that it dealt with a record number of debt-related problems in 2009.The CAB's advisors handled 2.27 million debt problems last year, accounting for 60% of the organisation's enquiries. The firm also reports that it is dealing with 9,500 new debt and benefit problems every working day.
Remove all financial safety nets - Myners
Adrian Holliday
Mar 9th 2010
Filed under: Debt, Economy, Financial Crisis, Banking
Let's remove the bail-out safety net. Let's start treating money as if it's something you could actually lose. Crikey, you mean, the government won't bail us out if we make a boo-boo? Even just one or two?
That's right. That was the crux of Lord Myners' Smith Institute speech last night to financial industry players: start behaving as if you really have something to lose.
HMRC staff morale at rock-bottom
Adrian Holliday
Mar 9th 2010
Filed under: Debt, Personal Finance, News , Taxes
Did you think HMRC was a highly-oiled professional machine dedicated to tackling and confronting the world of tax avoidance and its nefarious practitioners?Some still labour under this idea apparently. The Treasury Select Committee isn't one. It reckons HMRC is badly organized, performs poorly and that its employees suffer from low morale.
£250m dividend for Matalan boss
Adrian Holliday
Mar 8th 2010
Filed under: Debt, Banking , Retail
Controlling shareholder John Hargreaves of Matalan is to pay himself a £250m dividend. Sixty-six year old Hargreaves regularly receives generous dividends from his company – but a £250m pay-out certainly errs on the side of generous.Hargreaves attempted to sell his budget 200-store homeware chain earlier this year. However Hargreaves, who took the company private in 2006, and several investors couldn't agree to a sticker price.
Women still denied senior work roles
Adrian Holliday
Mar 8th 2010
Filed under: Company, Debt, Investing, News
Women are not making the grade in senior business roles. Still. That's the conclusion of the World Economic Forum (WEF) which says the world's top companies are still failing to educate, train and reward women higher up the company food chain.WEF says India has the lowest amount of female employees at high-ranking positions. The US, on the other hand, scored well with the highest percentage of female employees (52%) occupying high-level positions.
Icelanders reject £3.4bn debt plan
Adrian Holliday
Mar 7th 2010
Filed under: Debt, Economy, Financial Crisis, Savings and Accounts, Banking
Icelanders have overwhelmingly voted against paying off their British and Dutch debts. More than 90% of those who voted claim they will not enter debt slavery, paying back more than £3.4bn, for the wrongs of a selfish minority of well-connected bankers and ineffective regulatory oversight.Icelanders do want to take responsibility for their debts, many say. They just want a fairer deal. So, the British and Dutch government will have to wait a bit longer for their I.O.U chits to be paid off.
Too many debtors repaying too much
Chris Wheal
Mar 6th 2010
Filed under: Credit Cards, Debt, Banking
Insolvency trade body, R3, has criticised debt advisers claiming that more than a quarter (26%) of Debt Management Plans (DMPs) will last ten years or more, when they are meant to be a short-term repayment plans. It described the problem as "debt slavery".A DMP is a payment plan between an individual and their unsecured creditors, such as credit card companies. But some of the firms advising those with huge debts are giving duff advice. Sometime going bankrupt would be a better option, something many people end up doing anyway.
Unions prepare to bite back at Kraft
Adrian Holliday
Mar 5th 2010
Filed under: Company, Debt, Economy, Job Focus
We want above-inflation pay rises. We want promises you won't cut pay for extra hours or other benefits. That's the blunt message Cadbury workers are telling new owner, Kraft. But will they listen? Kraft handed over £11.4bn for the British chocolate maker. It did this by borrowing more than £7bn - which means it's under pressure to keep costs to a minimum.
UK 100-FTSE tax payouts threaten jobs
Adrian Holliday
Mar 3rd 2010
Filed under: Company, Debt, Economy, Job Focus
The One Hundred Group has done some calculator punching. It reckons the government grabbed nearly 57% of gross profits in taxes from the UK's top FTSE-100 companies in the last year.The One Hundred Group represents some big guns: M&S, HSBC, Shell. Currently the government grabs 28% in corporation taxes and will increase employer's national insurance contributions next April – should it remain in power.
Keep economic recovery stories coming
David Burrows
Mar 3rd 2010
Is today a good news day? It seems like only last week economists and economic indicators were predicting financial Armageddon and a collapsing pound.
Oh, actually it was last week!
Still, you can't just print the doom and gloom, what good would that do anyone?
The latest survey data released today suggests the UK economic recovery is gathering momentum after all!
UK consumer confidence in new surge
Adrian Holliday
Mar 3rd 2010
Filed under: Debt, Economy, Job Focus, Retail
It's pretty confusing out there. Just a few days ago Nationwide told us house prices took a hit in February. Yesterday we reported that fewer UK workers could expect a payrise this year. Now we have Nationwide telling us that UK consumer confidence reached a two-year high last month. Apparently there was a lot of excitement over our 0.1% crawl out of recession. Are things actually getting better?
Singer Nana gives up pension for Greece
Adrian Holliday
Mar 3rd 2010
Filed under: Debt, Financial Crisis, Pensions, News
Will Nana's pension help rescue debt-raddled Greece? The diva and singer of The White Rose of Athens has offered her own pension to her cash-strapped government to help her country through its debt crisis. Mouskouri's Brussels pension is thought to be worth nearly £15,000 a year. This amount won't make much more than a tiny scratch against Greece's interest payments – Greece's owes €220 bn to overseas banks currently, equivalent to almost 115% of her GDP.
Economy doing worse than suspected?
Coutts AIG bond row may end in court
