UK Business News

Issuing a call for a rethink on how EU regulation impacts UK SMEs, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England ands Wales [ICAEW] has also set out what it thinks business needs, in response to a Commission Consultation in advance of the EU Small Business Act.
The main concern that all-embracing policies do not take account of the [...]

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With profits slashed in the year to end of January 2008, JJB Sports will axe 72
of its 420 stores across the UK.
Seen as a touchstone of consumer disposable income, the high street chain has suffered from customers unwilling to part with their money for non-essential items, in reaction to rising food and energy bills and [...]

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March figures from the Office of National Statistics show producer output price inflation hitting 6.2%, a rise of 0.3% since February - the highest for 17 years.
As consumers start to feel the pinch of high street price rises, manufacturers are already there, having seen raw material prices rise by an average of 20.6%. Fuel costs have [...]

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The British Chambers of Commerce reports that the cost of criminal damage to UK businesses runs out at about £12.6 billion - up by a fifth since 2004 - and is ‘hugely damaging’.
50% of firms responding to the BCC survey had suffered crime last year ranging from burglary, damage to vehicles and other vandalism such [...]

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DSG International, owner of Currys, issued its second profit warning of the year following the impact of reduced profit margins after first quarter price cuts aimed at driving sales upward.
Estimates are now set at £200-210m, £40m down on the previous warning in January and a third down original forecasts of £300-320m.
This latest round of bad news hit [...]

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