All Money talk articles
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AnalysisMONEY TALK: Retail crime – it’s time for forecourt operators to have a fundamental re-think
It’s an expensive, persistent and growing issue affecting forecourt operators and their staff: crime – whether we’re talking shoplifting, drive-offs or no means of payment (NMoP). But does it have to be this way?
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AnalysisMoney Talk: EG and BP news awash in Covid tsunami
It really, really would be great to be able to look at business and finance events other than the obvious one that’s dominated the year. Take for example the recent announcement that the founders and joint CEO’s of EG Group (the Issa brothers) have just bought Asda from Walmart.
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ArticleMoney Talk: Playing the ‘local’ card – and winning
New Covid-19 rules might look like they’ve put paid to sales growth, but one retailer we know is playing the ‘local’ card – and winning
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Money Talk: Navigating stormy waters
It’s probably fair to say that six months ago none of us really believed that as we head into autumn the single topic dominating business in the UK would still be Covid-19 (-whatever happened to “Brexit”?).
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Money Talk: We’re all still picking up the pieces
Just for a moment, let’s forget the more pessimistic predictions about a ‘second wave’ of Covid-19, and instead look at where business is today.
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Money Talk: Covid-19 - has it seen off cash on the forecourt?
Coming into June, and the first stringent phase of lockdown is lifting and being replaced by – confusion. During the initial panic the instructions were reasonably clear: stay at home other than for very limited exceptions
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Money Talk: Don’t expect to be back to ‘normal’ any time soon
Another month brings another set of ‘relaxed’ rules telling us how we’re all now supposed to interact in public, along with the very welcome news that the hospitality sector – or at least whatever is left of it – is allowed to open after three months of shutdown.
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NewsMoney Talk: Yes, petrol retailers are open, but it’s a struggle...
Over a month into ’lockdown’ and we’re used to the new ’normal’: only essential public-facing businesses remaining open, meanwhile those that can operate without visitors try to do so by phone and online. Roads much quieter than anyone can remember and more people on bikes or on foot than there ...
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NewsMoney Talk: Our discussion on the Budget has been overtaken by world events
We had expected this month to be looking at the Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s first Budget. However, as we’re all aware, the Budget was overtaken by events so rapidly that it had become largely irrelevant almost before the ink was dry. The UK realised that Covid-19 could do as much damage ...
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NewsMoney Talk: Demand versus supply in the limited labour pool
In late February the Home Office floated its ’Post Brexit immigration plans’ and immediately found itself on the receiving end of cries of alarm from employer organisations across the economy: farming, hospitality, healthcare and retailing among them. The major bone of contention is the intention to severely restrict effectively stop ...
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NewsMoney Talk: Stay alert, be vigilant - it’s a sensitive time for scams
Let’s start with a quick update from last month’s column, where we mentioned that a well-known High Street fashion retailer had admitted that it may have overstated the value of stock on its balance sheet by "some £25m". Following a preliminary investigation by external auditors, the company issued a statement ...
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NewsMoney Talk: Stock shock - and what you can do to avoid it
There was a news story last month about a well-known, publicly quoted fashion retailer which announced that it may have overstated the value of stock on its balance sheet by some £25m and the consequent appointment of lawyers and accountants to investigate and determine what happened and just how big ...
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NewsMoney Talk: Getting into the festive spirit - in the right way
Although we’re in the middle of an (unseasonal) election campaign, and there’s so much else going on news wise, it’s here again Christmas a season that raises a few business issues. Stock, cash and insurance First up, stock, cash and insurance. Many forecourts today sell alcohol; some sell lots of ...
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NewsMoney Talk: Why it’s so important to keep an eye on your bank account
There’s a common history relating to almost every major IT project especially those undertaken by government departments: they take far longer to implement than planned, cost several times more than they were budgeted for, and usually create havoc when they go live. So with that sort of background the expectations ...
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NewsMoney Talk: Preparing for very interesting times ahead
In general, accountants try to stay away from looking at politics and world events. We tend to leave those matters to economists, who like to speculate on the eventual effects of what they call ’macro’ events right down to the ’micro’ level ie particular business sectors and consumers. However, unless ...
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NewsMoney Talk: The big squeeze that’s affecting supplies across the board
There’s been a common theme emerging over recent months in one conversation after another with independent fuel retailers: the word ’pressure’ crops up quite regularly, but one very experienced retailer simply called it ’the squeeze’. He described a slow, inexorable process whereby it seemed that his options in how to ...
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NewsMoney Talk: Time for a reality check of your stock and the start of a routine
It’s always nice to actually get down to working with a new client. Those weeks, or months, of discussions and planning beforehand are necessary: deciding on the most appropriate accounting system; designing any new procedures to integrate with it while minimising unnecessary disruption to tried-and-tested practices, even picking the right ...
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NewsMoney Talk: Can anyone say, with any confidence, what the true price of loyalty is?
With the recent major changes involving fuel brands and their associated loyalty schemes, many consumers might be forgiven for being confused. After the shake-up we now have: Esso associated with Nectar (having dropped Tesco Clubcard); BP offering BPme Rewards (having dropped Nectar); and Shell going with Go+ instead of Drivers ...
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NewsMoney Talk: Family-run businesses have advantages... and disadvantages
It often seems that we live in an age of multinational mega-corporations which control so many familiar trading names, to the extent that it’s easy to forget that in reality a large proportion of small/medium businesses are still basically family-owned and run enterprises and this is particularly the case when ...
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NewsMoney Talk: Why planning ahead makes good business sense
It’s very easy to sympathise with the view that planning ahead is basically pointless. Technological and social change seem to happen at an ever-increasing pace and to threaten the basic way in which our industries work, and indeed in how our lives are organised. As if that didn’t make it ...