The Good (and not so bad) News Thread

RenovationMan

I can't believe it's been so long since we posted stuff onto here, and it's not from want of good news that's for sure. I've posted a few items from July to get the ball rolling again.

Cue some posts from the resident depressives who hate good news and everything it stands for (preventing everyone from being as miserable as they are). :rotfl:

RenovationMan

Tuesday 12/06/2012 - Liechtenstein tax agreement to bring in £3bn

A tax agreement confirmed in 2009 with Liechtenstein is now expected to bring in £3bn a year by 2016, three times the initial estimate of £1bn. So far, 2,400 people have come forward to admit that they are hiding money in this type of offshore account, raising a further £363m for the taxpayer, although it is suspected that up to 5,000 individuals are avoiding tax using this method.

Under the agreement, Liechtenstein banks have to write to all UK citizens who have an account with them and ask them to prove they are compliant with UK tax regulations. If they can not prove compliance, the accounts of those individuals will be closed. If the people who are avoiding tax come forward they have to pay the tax owed on interest over the past 10 years, plus interest in addition to 10% of the fine for tax evasion, which could be worth billions to the UK.

RenovationMan

Friday 08/06/2012 - Belway sees 9% rise in reservations over Spring

UK property builder Belway has seen the number of reservations at sites which the firm has been developing, meaning it is on track to meet it's target of 5% sales growth for this financial year.

The recent launch of the Government's NewBuy scheme, which allows first-time buyers to purchase a house with a deposit as little as 5% of the property value, has helped to boost reservation numbers, with 90 buyers taking up the offer at Belway in the 17 weeks to 31st May.

In addition to this, Belway reported that the average property price has risen 5% to £190,400 compared to the same period last year, as the firm looks to increase volume of sales and margin to benefit from the falling inflation rate.

RenovationMan

Thursday 07/06/2012 - Norwegian energy partnership to create 1,500 jobs

It has been announced that a deal between the United Kingdom and Norway could create around 1,500 jobs in the energy industry. The deal, which will see the UK and Norway working together on oil, gas and renewable energy production.

In addition to an extra 1,500 jobs, it is also thought that the extra investment will help to bring down the price of energy bills further, given the huge rise experienced over the last few years.