Two more retail companies look doomed

Henkeman said:
We are, but there also needs to be a fundamental re-think about the high street and things like business rates. Companies rise and fall, but online has a huge cost advantage that needs addressing. Unless we're happy to see deserted town centres, anyway.
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I think it’s possibly a little too simplistic to blame just business rates - but as part of a bigger picture it all comes together and you can see why so many businesses are on there arses.

You’ve got public sector numpties who couldn’t run a bath, dictating to enterprising business owners that you will pay our insane rates to cover our reckless spending, or we’ll see you in court.

In the last 12 months, the business rates for my business have gone up by 2.5x. The area we’re in has become subject to a “BID” (business improvement district), we weren’t in our unit when it was voted on and we are now being hit with a demand for an additional £300/year (didn’t even know about it until we had moved in).

We now have to pay increased contributions towards all employee pensions - which is another mid four figures a year for us. Then obviously we have to pay employer NI too. I mean you should absolutely be taxed for having the audacity to offer people jobs, right?

Anyway my point is, all of those things add up to quite a large amount. Where’s all this money coming from to cover additional taxes and rates? There’s a lot of uncertainty around, we definitely can’t put our prices up. But we’re paying more than we have in the past for stock due to the weak pound. Sellers from China can post products from Shanghai to the UK cheaper than we can post the same products from Manchester to London, for example.

All the while our politicians and local councils continue troughing while businesses find it harder and harder to pay the bills let alone make a profit.

Then, when someone like Mike Ashley does find an angle and a way of making a profit on the high street, let’s rip the piss out of him in the media for being a fat chav. Because that’s how we roll in this country.
 
gandalfthebrave said:
I think it’s possibly a little too simplistic to blame just business rates - but as part of a bigger picture it all comes together and you can see why so many businesses are on there arses.

You’ve got public sector numpties who couldn’t run a bath, dictating to enterprising business owners that you will pay our insane rates to cover our reckless spending, or we’ll see you in court.

In the last 12 months, the business rates for my business have gone up by 2.5x. The area we’re in has become subject to a “BID” (business improvement district), we weren’t in our unit when it was voted on and we are now being hit with a demand for an additional £300/year (didn’t even know about it until we had moved in).

We now have to pay increased contributions towards all employee pensions - which is another mid four figures a year for us. Then obviously we have to pay employer NI too. I mean you should absolutely be taxed for having the audacity to offer people jobs, right?

Anyway my point is, all of those things add up to quite a large amount. Where’s all this money coming from to cover additional taxes and rates? There’s a lot of uncertainty around, we definitely can’t put our prices up. But we’re paying more than we have in the past for stock due to the weak pound. Sellers from China can post products from Shanghai to the UK cheaper than we can post the same products from Manchester to London, for example.

All the while our politicians and local councils continue troughing while businesses find it harder and harder to pay the bills let alone make a profit.

Then, when someone like Mike Ashley does find an angle and a way of making a profit on the high street, let’s rip the piss out of him in the media for being a fat chav. Because that’s how we roll in this country.
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Selfish exploitative businesses wanting to avoid tax again. ;-)
 
Prestwich_Blue said:
Sears in the USA, which owns Sears & Kmart, has gone into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and may even go into liquidation completely.
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Chapter 11 is marvellous. Force everyone you owe money to to carry on trading with you so they don't lose all that they're owed. What a wheeze!
 
Prestwich_Blue said:
Sears in the USA, which owns Sears & Kmart, has gone into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and may even go into liquidation completely.
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Sears has been like a jumble sale for sometime. Can’t see a future for them after a very long decline. There may be a few empty Sears sites in the Glazier Shopping Mall empire!
 
nmc said:
Sears has been like a jumble sale for sometime. Can’t see a future for them after a very long decline. There may be a few empty Sears sites in the Glazier Shopping Mall empire!
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Naturally I checked and there's one big KMart. which is part of the Sears Holdings group. But there are a few Glazer malls where the anchor tenancy is empty, meaning around 70%+ of the retail square footage on the site is not bringing any revenue in.
 
gandalfthebrave said:
I think it’s possibly a little too simplistic to blame just business rates - but as part of a bigger picture it all comes together and you can see why so many businesses are on there arses.

You’ve got public sector numpties who couldn’t run a bath, dictating to enterprising business owners that you will pay our insane rates to cover our reckless spending, or we’ll see you in court.

In the last 12 months, the business rates for my business have gone up by 2.5x. The area we’re in has become subject to a “BID” (business improvement district), we weren’t in our unit when it was voted on and we are now being hit with a demand for an additional £300/year (didn’t even know about it until we had moved in).

We now have to pay increased contributions towards all employee pensions - which is another mid four figures a year for us. Then obviously we have to pay employer NI too. I mean you should absolutely be taxed for having the audacity to offer people jobs, right?

Anyway my point is, all of those things add up to quite a large amount. Where’s all this money coming from to cover additional taxes and rates? There’s a lot of uncertainty around, we definitely can’t put our prices up. But we’re paying more than we have in the past for stock due to the weak pound. Sellers from China can post products from Shanghai to the UK cheaper than we can post the same products from Manchester to London, for example.

All the while our politicians and local councils continue troughing while businesses find it harder and harder to pay the bills let alone make a profit.

Then, when someone like Mike Ashley does find an angle and a way of making a profit on the high street, let’s rip the piss out of him in the media for being a fat chav. Because that’s how we roll in this country.
Click to expand...
You should talk to my boss, he's adamant that the tax and rates system is beautifully designed to keep us all down. Earn just enough to get by, but not too much that you start to make decent money. Small businesses need as much help as the larger scale ones.
 
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