29/09/2007 by admin.

More than 60,000 workers in Wales and more than a million workers across the UK, will benefit from an increase in their hourly pay from next week, according to Wales TUC.

From Monday the adult minimum wage goes up to £5.52 an hour, while the hourly rates for 18-21 year olds and 16-17 year olds increase to £4.60 and £3.40.

According to the British Retail consortium the rate of increase in the national minimum wage was up 46% since 1999 and was now seriously slowing the rate of retail job creation. The effects being particularly bad for SME retailers who were spending 25% of turnover on wages.

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29/09/2007 by admin.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has warned the Government that any plans for a change in tax law aimed at private equity firms could also damage small firms.

The Prime Minister has recently spoken of his desire to change Government policy on certain parts of the tax regime to ensure that private equity is taxed at an appropriate level.

However, small businesses and entrepreneurs also benefit from taper relief on capital gains that could be targeted by these changes. Small businesses - that together employ twelve million people - are concerned that any changes proposed in the forthcoming Pre-Budget Report may stifle their ability to grow instead of addressing concerns about private equity.

The Government has targeted small business growth as a key area for the new Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. However, this will not be achievable if changes in the tax rules from the Treasury hit small firms.

Bill Knox, FSB Taxation Chairman, said:

“The Government will have to tread carefully if it is not to hit small businesses in the crossfire of its proposed attack on the tax regime as it relates to private equity.

“The Prime Minister rightly speaks warmly about the British entrepreneur. However, any changes in the taper relief regime targeted at private equity risk hitting small businesses as well.

“The moves to change tax policy on gains from private equity may also be counter-productive. Few of the people who currently earn large amounts from private equity are domiciled for tax purposes in the UK anyway. But small businesses generate fifty per cent of UK GDP and do pay tax in the UK.”

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29/09/2007 by admin.

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) has announced further strike action in the form of two 48-hour strikes, from lunchtime on Thursday 4th until lunchtime on Saturday 6th October, and from the early hours of Monday 8th until early hours Wednesday 10th October.

This will be followed by an unspecified programme of weekly strikes, starting w/c October 15th, until the resolution of the dispute.

The situation will severely limit Royal Mail’s ability to provide any services for the coming period. Customers should expect severe disruption to all postal services during the strikes and for a significant period afterwards.

Useful link: Parcelsameday Courier Service.

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