Recession on the High Street...a new government strategy

12 UK towns have recently been awarded £100k to help revive their ailing town centres.

These so called Portas Pilots include Wolverhampton as well as smaller towns such as Lizkeard (Cornwall) and Market Rasen (Lincolnshire)

Luton ( pictured left ) , Dunstable and Bedford have not made the list.
It will be interesting to see what initiatives are suggested and whether these towns can overcome the threats of :

• internet shopping
• penniless customers 
• successful out of town centres 

Radio 4 recently featured the plight of Dunstable's Quadrant Shopping Centre. The Council are anxious to buy the site but cannot afford the price demanded by the owners ( Southend Property Holdings ) who feel that they are sitting on a goldmine.

Mixed news for BAE Systems

One of the companies studied by business management students is BAE Systems. There has recently been mixed news for this company.

On one hand the US Air Force has recently purchased a contract to supply 350 training planes.

It is thought that these will be the Hawk jets pictured left.

Worse news if you are employed in a shipyard however. Govan and the historic shipyards of Portsmouth still face closure.

For further reliable and impartial news on the company I recommend our Newsbank and Marketline databases

Latest Financial Results...

Financial performance doesn't just depend on sales. Wetherspoons, which announces it's financial position this week grapples with  a huge tax increase of 50 million pounds.

If you are looking at a PEST analysis of a company this might count as a political factor.

Wetherspoons recently attacked cost pressures from government legislation , including increases in excise duty, business rates and carbon tax.

Their total tax bill in the current financial year will be around 500 million.

(Daily Express, Monday July 9th, p.47)