Surreal is one way to describe Cadbury's Christmas party for the media on Tuesday. Agonising is another. Along with assorted senior communications execs, CEO Todd Stitzer and chairman Roger Carr took time out of their busy preparations to defend Kraft's hostile takeover bid (widely expected to commence on Monday).
But with all those journalists in attendance, no-one was able to ask any questions relating to the matter most at hand; or rather, no-one received any answers of substance. It was not unlike the Greek tale of Tantalus, suspended in a river from which he was unable to drink.
This year has been similarly tantalising, but in reverse: there is a sense that something really bad is still to come. As we note in the Review of the Year (p32), it's been a better year than many of us expected, thanks to a generous cut in VAT, the massive cash injection into the economy through interest rate cuts and £178bn of public borrowing-based subsidies, and some very skilful grocery retail management, of course. There are even signs of a comeback for premium own-label lines (see p5).
But as well as the prospect of VAT going up next month, there's also the March 2010 Budget to worry about, with the prospect of a two-year public sector pay cap and massive cuts in public spending and a further increase in VAT still to come under a possible new Conservative government. And even 2010 is tantalising, with the effects of a one-year delay in corporation tax for small business, and a 0.5% increase in both employers' and employees' national insurance not set to hit home till 2011.
Apart from the bingo levy reduction (the limited shelf life of the bankers' bonus tax was merely inept) the most surreal aspect of Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report, however, was a reduction of the green tax relief from 80% to 65% (see p5). In the same week as the Copenhagen summit, how bizarre is it to punish businesses that are working to be more green?
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But with all those journalists in attendance, no-one was able to ask any questions relating to the matter most at hand; or rather, no-one received any answers of substance. It was not unlike the Greek tale of Tantalus, suspended in a river from which he was unable to drink.
This year has been similarly tantalising, but in reverse: there is a sense that something really bad is still to come. As we note in the Review of the Year (p32), it's been a better year than many of us expected, thanks to a generous cut in VAT, the massive cash injection into the economy through interest rate cuts and £178bn of public borrowing-based subsidies, and some very skilful grocery retail management, of course. There are even signs of a comeback for premium own-label lines (see p5).
But as well as the prospect of VAT going up next month, there's also the March 2010 Budget to worry about, with the prospect of a two-year public sector pay cap and massive cuts in public spending and a further increase in VAT still to come under a possible new Conservative government. And even 2010 is tantalising, with the effects of a one-year delay in corporation tax for small business, and a 0.5% increase in both employers' and employees' national insurance not set to hit home till 2011.
Apart from the bingo levy reduction (the limited shelf life of the bankers' bonus tax was merely inept) the most surreal aspect of Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report, however, was a reduction of the green tax relief from 80% to 65% (see p5). In the same week as the Copenhagen summit, how bizarre is it to punish businesses that are working to be more green?
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