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Tax avoiders beware
Thursday 31 May 2012 10:00
HM Revenue & Customs has set out a series of campaigns to target tax evasion in a bid to recover around £25m of unpaid tax. The specialist teams will target specific trading sectors identified as being high risk when it comes to tax evasion in specific parts of the country. They include indoor and outdoor markets in London, taxi Firms in Yorkshire and Nottingham, property rentals in East Anglia, London, Yorkshire and the North East and restaurants in the Midlands. Paul Roberts, head of tax investigations at Grant Thornton said: "HMRC has been gathering intelligence on tax evasion for the last year or so using 'web crawler' technology and is likely to have already identified several traders they plan to investigate."
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College cash boost
Thursday 31 May 2012 6:00
Leeds City College, the third largest further education (FE) college in the UK, has secured a £25m new term loan from Santander Corporate Banking (Santander). The finance will be used to fund the acquisition and redevelopment of a local freehold property to extend its property portfolio and provide inspirational learning facilities for the city. The college, which offers educational facilities to over 45,000 students, employs over 1,800 staff and has a turnover of approximately £80 million a year. Peter Roberts, principal and chief executive, Leeds City College, said: “We are pledging our commitment to students and staff by improving their learning facilities. The loan from Santander will enable us to deliver on this promise.”
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Ellis Czechs out new project
Thursday 31 May 2012 6:00
Cable cleats from Yorkshire manufacturer Ellis are to be installed in a major power plant in the Czech Republic. The 660MWe Ledvice Power Plant is being built in the foothills of the Krusne Mountains by the country’s largest electricity producer, CEZ. When commissioned in 2014 it will be the most modern brown coal powered plant in central Europe, producing more electricity than the combined output of the five other units that have been located on the site since the 1960s.
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Prison appointment
Thursday 31 May 2012 5:00
Anderson Strathern has been appointed by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) as sole provider of legal services under a three year framework agreement. The SPS is an executive agency of the Scottish Government Justice Department and operates sites across Scotland. In addition to prisons, the SPS also operates a college, a central store and an administrative headquarters building. Chairman Robert Carr, Chairman, said:“This is a very significant appointment for the firm. We have a strong team of highly experienced lawyers who are well positioned to assist the SPS in achieving its aims and objectives. During the tendering process we worked hard to ensure that we demonstrated our understanding of the SPS and their priorities and how we will support them and add value for the duration of the contract."
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Helping hand for SMEs
Thursday 31 May 2012 4:00
Sixty of the North East of England’s top industrial leaders will meet this week to commit to and formulate mentoring support for Northeast SMEs via the newly formulated Business Acceleration for SMEs programme. The Business Acceleration for SMEs programme – to be known as BASME – will assist 400 SMEs identify direct sales opportunities and help to bring new products and services to market more quickly and through promotion to international supply chains. The £1.5m industry matched programme has committed to deliver £40m of additional sales per annum and create 1000 new jobs over 36 months.
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Buyer search begins
Friday 25 May 2012 7:00
Administrators are on the hunt for a buyer for Richard C Hartley, an independent motor accessory and parts supplier which is spread across the North and Midlands. Trading as Motormania and Midland Car Parts, the business was launched 25 years and today has 17 branches supported by the Midland Car Parts motor factor and distribution hub in Derby and employs 92 staff across the companies. Accountancy firm Grant Thornton has been appointed as the company's administrator.
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PwC split announced
Friday 25 May 2012 7:00
Corporate giant PwC has set out plans to split its northern practice into two regions – the North East and the North West. The company has appointed of Ian Green as regional leader for the North East region, succeeding Steve Denison, who has been promoted to lead the firm's assurance business across the UK regions. In the North West, Iwan Griffiths, an audit partner currently seconded to PwC’s Tokyo office with expertise in the financial services sector, will join the Manchester office as the regional leader and office senior partner. The change, it says, will enable the company to focus on "local growth plans".
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FirstGroup sets sale
Friday 25 May 2012 4:00
FirstGroup is reported to be planning to sell off more of its UK bus operations as in response to the fallout from public spending cuts and rising fuel costs. The Scotland-based transport group recorded pre-tax operating profits of £271.4m in the year to 31 March, a dip of 1% on the previous 12 months, boosted mainly by strong performances in the US from its school bus division.
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SDI impact revealed
Monday 21 May 2012 10:00
Scottish Development International (SDI) reportedly helped more than 1,000 "high-potential" businesses access new global markets last year, its annual report revealed today. The group also assisted 190 companies on new international projects with a projected growth of £733m in sales over the next three years. That was almost double the £405m achieved the previous year.
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Stagecoach heads west
Monday 21 May 2012 6:00
Scottish transport firm Stagecoach is to buy parts of a North American bus firm for a figure reported to be in the region of £100m. Coach America, which is headquartered in Dallas, was declared bankrupt earlier this year. Stagecoach will snap up nine of Coach America's businesses, including operations in Texas and California. The purchases will enable it to expand its megabus.com budget coach network, the company said.
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Insolvencies down
Friday 18 May 2012 6:00
Individual insolvencies in Yorkshire and the Humber have decreased from 13,466 (32.0 per 10,000 adult population) in 2010 to 12,255 (28.9 per 10,000 adult population) in 2011 according to analysis by R3, the insolvency trade body, of the Insolvency Service’s statistics. However, these figures rank Yorkshire and the Humber as the region with the fifth highest rate of insolvencies in the UK and the fourth highest rate of bankruptcies with 4,317 (10.2 per 10,000 adult population) in 2011. Two of the ten local authorities with the highest number of total individual insolvency rates in 2011 were in Yorkshire and the Humber, namely Scarborough with 449 new cases (50.2 per 10,000 adult population) and Kingston upon Hull with 974 new cases (45.5 per 10,000 adult population).
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Accountancy firm expands
Thursday 17 May 2012 6:00
Accountancy firm French Duncan has launched a forensic accounting department to provide litigation support to lawyers throughout Scotland. Heading up the new department is Jeff Meek, a member of the Society for Expert Witnesses. “Our forensic accounting department has been established in response to a growing demand for litigation support throughout the central belt,” he said.