6:40 am, November 18, 2022
Fuel could go up by 12p a litre
Petrol and diesel could rocket in price by 12p a litre next March if a planned rise in fuel duty comes into force.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has said in its Economic and Fiscal Outlook for November that ‘the planned 23 per cent increase in the fuel duty rate in late-March 2023’ would add an extra ‘£5.7 billion to receipts next year.’
According to RAC Fuel Watch, the hike would see petrol rise to 175p a litre and diesel shoot to nearly £2 per litre, equating to a 12p-per-litre rise.
Business rates relief welcomed
The chancellor yesterday unveiled a near-£14bn package of property tax support for firms.
The new support on business rates was welcomed by UK companies but hospitality groups have stressed that it doesn’t go far enough to fix the ‘outdated’ system.
The steps include freezing the business rates multiplier for another year to protect firms from rising inflation, meaning rates will no longer be hiked in line with double-digit consumer prices inflation from next April.
Cost of Bulb bailout rises to £6.5bn
The cost of bailing out energy supplier Bulb has soared to nearly four times the initial expectations, according to a new forecast.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the total cost for propping up the failed supplier, which had around 1.6m customers when it collapsed a year ago, had reached £6.5bn ahead of its sale to Octopus Energy.
The government was forced to step in and run it under a special administration, but a spokesperson told Car Dealer today: ‘This cost figure does not include the full details of any deal drawn up as part of the process to remove Bulb from the special administration regime, nor do the OBR figures include the financial support that will be repaid by the new entity in accordance with an agreed repayment schedule, so we still expect the net cost to taxpayers to be much lower.’
Consumer confidence stays at near-historic low
Consumer confidence rose slightly in November in a probable ‘collective sigh of relief’ after the chaos of the mini-Budget but remains at a near-historic low.
GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index increased three points to -44 with improvements across all measures registering the financial and economic mood of the nation.
Confidence in the general economic situation over the next 12 months improved by three points to -58 but is still 35 points lower than this time last year. Client strategy director Joe Staton said: ‘This month’s fillip is likely to reflect nothing more than a collective sigh of relief as a new prime minister takes charge following the alarming fiscal antics we saw in September.’ Full story here
More Twitter workers flee after Musk’s ‘hardcore’ ultimatum
Twitter continued to bleed engineers and other workers yesterday, after new owner Elon Musk gave them a choice to pledge to ‘hardcore’ work or resign with severance pay.
Some took to Twitter to announce they were signing off after Musk’s deadline to make the pledge.
A number of employees went on a private forum to discuss their planned departure, asking questions about how it might jeopardise their US visas or if they would get the promised pay, according to a fired employee who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Evri is worst-performing parcel firm for second year running
All of the UK’s major parcel firms are continuing to fail consumers amid calls for regulator Ofcom to consider fining them if they can’t improve their service.
Evri – formerly known as Hermes – Yodel, DPD and Amazon Logistics failed to secure even a three-star overall rating out of five after being scored against criteria including customer service, parcel problems and accessibility needs, such as people needing longer to answer the door.
Evri came last for the second year running, despite an overall improvement to score just 1.75 stars in the second annual parcel league table by Citizens Advice.
Fuller’s predicts World Cup boost amid strong Christmas bookings
Pub group Fuller’s has hailed ‘strong’ Christmas bookings and said it expects an ‘uplift’ from customers watching the World Cup.
However, the company – which owns 386 pubs and inns – highlighted increased pressure from rising energy bills, food and wage costs plus rising interest rates as well.
The group also said it had faced a hit of some £1.4m to sales over the past half-year as a result of Tube and train strikes.
Coronation Street gin goes on sale in honour of Hilda Ogden’s ‘wonky duck’
Staying on the subject of booze, Coronation Street has released its first gin by the name of Wonky Duck in honour of character Hilda Ogden’s well-known living room wall.
Manchester-based distiller No.186 has produced the gin for ITV Studios, which makes the long-running soap opera.
The bottles feature an image of the famous three brass ducks that graced the equally legendary ‘muriel’ of Hilda’s living room at 13 Coronation Street, with the middle one never hanging straight.
Toyota unveils bZ electric compact SUV concept
Toyota has hinted at a future new electric compact SUV with the reveal of a stylish new concept car at the LA Auto Show.
Unveiled yesterday, the purely electric model hints at a new model as part of the Japanese firm’s ‘Beyond Zero’ or ‘bZ’ sub-brand, following on from the bZ4X, which is just arriving at dealerships.
The striking coupe-styled crossover could hint at a future replacement for the popular C-HR, and stands out with its sharp, angular design, with imposing crease lines and large LED light bars at the front and rear giving the model a bold presence. Short front and rear overhangs and a twin rear spoiler also help give a more prominent look.
Thursday’s headlines on Car Dealer you might have missed
- Autumn Statement: Electric car drivers to pay vehicle excise duty from 2025 and top-paid car dealers told to pay more tax
- Comment: What will electric car tax mean to EV drivers like me? How much will it cost?
- Top 20 biggest depreciating used cars revealed
- South West Nissan Group ditches petrol and diesel company car fleet in favour of EVs
- Jobs at risk after government blocks £63m sale of UK semiconductor firm to Chinese tech giant
- Troubled fashion retailer Joules officially in administration despite £1m investment from Stoneacre boss
Market movements
Following the chancellor’s Autumn Statement, the FTSE closed down 4.65 points yesterday to finish on 7,346.54. Meanwhile, the Cac 40 shed 31.10 points, ending on 6,576.12, the Dax rose by 32.35 points to 14,266.38 and the Dow Jones lost 7.51 points to close at 33,546.32.
Weather outlook
Heavy rain will continue across much of Scotland today, says BBC Weather, with the north of England experiencing showers. Southern areas of England and Northern Ireland will have sunny spells but there’ll be some showers in the south-west.
Saturday will see a chilly start for many, with sunny spells in Northern Ireland and the west later. It’ll be cloudy for the rest of the UK with some light rain, and it’ll turn cloudy and wet in Northern Ireland.
