Ireland gets an Apple windfall, but tackling tax avoidance just got harder | Simon Bowers

The intervention of Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s competition commissioner, has ruffled feathers

Apple boss Tim Cook is furious. How dare Brussels’ meddling competition regulators retrospectively unpick a tax deal that the iPhone-maker had secured from Ireland a quarter of a century ago. What business is it of theirs? Tax, after all, is a sovereign issue for each individual member state within the European Union. The European commission’s ruling would have a “profound and harmful effect” on investment and job creation in Europe, he said.

His political allies at home have waded in too. US Treasury secretary Jack Lew warned last week that the move could have a “chilling effect on US-EU cross-border investment”. The US would have to “consider potential responses”.

Related: Apple ordered to pay up to €13bn after EU rules Ireland broke state aid laws

Related: The Apple tax ruling – what this means for Ireland, tax and multinationals

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from Business blog | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/2016/aug/30/ireland-gets-an-apple-windfall-but-tackling-tax-avoidance-just-got-harder

Britain's rail safety record deserves some credit | Graham Ruddick

Latest annual safety report by the Office of Rail and Road shows Britain has the third safest railway in Europe since 2010

The debate about Britain’s railways is missing something important. Amid the talk of traingate, overcrowding, prices and nationalisation, there has been little mention of safety.

This is important, because the safety record for Britain’s rail network is staggeringly good. It is now nine years since a passenger on one of Britain’s trains died in an accident. The last fatality occurred when a Virgin Pendolino derailed in Cumbria.

Related: Are trains in Britain as overcrowded as Jeremy Corbyn claims?

Related: Sports Direct allows public to attend AGM and tour Shirebrook site

Related: US warns Europe over plan to demand millions in unpaid taxes from Apple

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from Business blog | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/2016/aug/24/britains-rail-safety-record-deserves-some-credit-graham-ruddick

Persimmon grabs the headlines but where are the smaller builders?

America builds far more homes because it has thriving mid-size building firms that have all but disappeared in Britain

Are Britain’s volume housebuilders too big and too successful? The standard narrative in the UK is that we don’t build enough houses, and that the likes of Persimmon, Barratts, and Taylor Wimpey need to knock out hundreds of thousands more a year if we’re ever going to cap runaway price inflation and house our growing population.

But Britain’s big housebuilders are far from failing. Persimmon (the biggest player in the market) has issued bumper figures, with completions up 6%, profits up 29% and sales barely affected, if at all, by Brexit. Its share price has recovered to within a whisker of its pre-referendum high.

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from Business blog | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/2016/aug/23/persimmon-grabs-the-headlines-but-where-are-the-smaller-builders

Sports Direct doesn't need consultants, it should listen to its shareholders

Mike Ashley’s firm announced an external evaluation of the board, but the problems are obvious to all ... except Keith Hellawell

Here is a tip for Sports Direct that could save Mike Ashley a few bob: rather than bringing in highly-paid consultants to evaluate the company’s board, just ask your shareholders. City institutions would swiftly tell Ashley that Sports Direct needs a credible chairman and a permanent finance director.

The fact that Sports Direct chose to publicly announce that it will conduct an “external evaluation” of its board suggests one problem is already clear – Keith Hellawell is not performing as chairman.

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from Business blog | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/2016/aug/18/sports-direct-doesnt-need-consultants-it-should-listen-to-its-shareholders

Positive unemployment figures no reason for leave voters to celebrate

Economists expected rise in joblessness but companies haven’t cut jobs yet because no one knows what Brexit will look like

If you put Brexit to one side, the latest unemployment figures are no surprise.

They show that Britain’s unemployment rate remained at 4.9% at the end of June, the lowest since 2005, while the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance dropped by 8,600 to 763,600 in July, the first fall since February 2016.

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from Business blog | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/blog/2016/aug/17/unemployment-figures-leave-voters-brexit

German growth slows less than expected in second quarter – business live

BHS to close all stores as questions remain unanswered

British Home Stores to close all branches by 20 August as law firm Jones Day called in to investigate directors’ conduct

The BHS scandal is far from over, in fact it may only just be starting. The flagship store on Oxford Street in London is pulling down its shutters for the final time this weekend and the last of the retail chain’s 164 outlets around the country will all be closed by the following Saturday.

However, the news that Jones Day has been brought in to investigate the conduct of BHS’s directors in the run-up to its collapse shows that questions remain unanswered.

Related: Sir Philip Green told to 'do the right thing' and plug BHS pension deficit

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from Business blog | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/2016/aug/11/bhs-to-close-all-stores-as-questions-remain-unanswered

Retailers benefit as sunshine sends post-Brexit spending soaring

Latest figures show like-for-like retail sales rose more than 1% in July, the best performance since January

Britain’s vote to leave the European Union may have been a shock, but a prolonged period of warm weather in July was even more unexpected.

At least that is what the latest retail sales figures show. Like-for-like retail sales, which excludes newly opened or closed stores, rose by 1.1% in July, while total sales rose by 1.9%. This was the best performance since January according to the British Retail Consortium and KPMG index.

Related: UK consumers keep spending despite Brexit vote shock

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from Business blog | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/2016/aug/09/retailers-benefit-as-sunshine-sends-post-brexit-spending-soaring

Bank of England deputy governor defends interest rate cut and stimulus package – live

Osborne makes good point on economy – first thing he's got right this year

As Bank of England fires its Brexit bazooka, former chancellor pops up on Twitter to call for supply side reform

Now that Mark Carney has fired the Bank of England’s Brexit bazooka, it is time for the government and businesses to step forward. The Bank has cut interest rates, restarted its asset purchase programme and is encouraging banks to pass on the base cut to the real economy by providing them with £100bn of new funding. But this will not mean much unless the government, businesses and households take advantage.

At least, that is what some bloke called George Osborne says. The MP for Tatton popped up on Twitter to say that the Bank’s actions “must be matched by permanent supply side reform: lower business taxes, free trade with EU and unambiguous message we’re open to overseas investment”.

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from Business blog | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/2016/aug/04/osborne-makes-good-point-on-economy-first-thing-hes-got-right-this-year

UK construction shrinks at fastest pace in seven years – business live

Reserve Bank of Australia: RBA cuts the cash rate to all-time low of 1.5% – live