"11 stores were not profitable." And what is your source for this fact? Judging by recent comments from M & S I doubt this is the case. Chairman Archie Norman has complained for months that M&S was struggling to get goods into Ireland and France since Britain left the EU single market at the beginning of the year, due to the huge amount of extra paperwork. "M&S has a long history of serving customers in France and this is not a decision we or our partner SFH have taken lightly," Paul Friston, M&S' international director, said.
If you think that M & S being forced to close 11 profitable stores in France due to Brexit red tape is a good thing you are more deluded than I thought. As for lorry drivers floodingi n from the continent to bail the Tories out, their latest statement would indicate otherwise " “So, more is needed. And I think the EU workers we speak to will not go to the UK for a short-term visa to help the UK out of the **** they created themselves.”
Tobias Elllwood the Tory genius has suggested training up Afgan refugees as HGV drivers. You could not make this stuff up. So now the government are to introduce up to 5000 temporary visas for EU HGV drivers to work in the UK for no longer than 3 months. If I were a lorry driver in the EU I would tell them where to stick their poxy visa. I suspect uptake will be very poor.
"Turning the immigration tap off is a mistake not just for current needs but all skills. "
Well people should have thought about that before they:
a) Voted Tory and got the rabid anti-immigration troll Pritti Patel for Home secretary.
b) Voted to leave the EU.
Rant over. By the way I did not hear about BP supply problems on the news, but was one of the drivers turned away at BP's service station at Southwaite on the M6 yesterday. Lots of angry drivers.
I doubt that your view that "GB is in an amazing position" will be borne out but unfolding events. Consumer confidence (like market sentiment) is a very fragile thing and there has been zero positive news to increase either over the past few weeks. The cost of living is rocketing upwards, taxes are increasing along with inflationary pressure and our creaking infrastructure cannot cope with supply chain disruption. I am spending Xmas in Spain mate.
There will be no increase in immigration as this would be political suicide for the Tories and would decimate their vote in the Red Wall seats. The latter may already be under pressure over the NI increase and pension triple lock suspension as it is. They will tough it out and it will be grim. No petrol at BP Southwaite M6 yesterday afternoon, had to drive on to Abingdon to fill up. Mucho shouting at the pumps as some drivers were nearly empty.
Even the Telegraph is gloomy :-(
"On the back of concerns about rising prices for fuel and food, the growth in headline inflation, tax hikes, empty shelves and the end of the furlough scheme, September sees consumers slamming on the brakes as those already in economic hardship anticipate a potential cost of living crisis. All measures have declined this month and consumers are clearly worrying about their personal financial situation and the wider economic prospects for the year ahead. When consumer confidence drops, shoppers tend to spend less, and this dampens the overall economic prospects for the UK. This really is an unwelcome picture if this continues into 2022 and beyond,"
Yes they do have an HGV driver shortage, but for a very different reason. The closure of ports in China has resulted in a far greater flux of goods reaching the EU overland by road and rail so their shortage is not caused by a drop in the number of drivers per se but by a greatly increased demand for road freight capacity. Quite different to the UK situation.
has lost patience with VOD as a holding in his "forever fund" and sold out (This weeks Sunday Times column). I presume he has hung on to the Verizon shares which came with the split from VOD a few years ago. Jokingly tweeted that he fully expects a bid to come in for VOD now at a considerable premium :-)
Let’s see what happens, but it’s all positive atm as cheapshsresboy said, and where else better to put your money????
K3 capital mate. Bolt on for over £4 when results are out and a nice fat dividend to boot :-)
We have a local butchers, fishmongers, a bakery and fruit and vegetable shop round the corner now. None of them were there even five years ago. They are always packed out, the butchers even opens on a Sunday morning and the service and quality of the produce (much of which is locally sourced) knocks any of the supermarkets into a ****ed hat without being significantly more expensive when you factor in petrol etc. Maybe the days of the big weekly supermarket shop are just numbered?
Porsche1946 your opinion on PHNX is entirely dependent on your time of entry and your decisions on dividends and rights issues. I have been in since 2014 have always reinvested the dividend and taken up both of the rights issues. I am now up 64% on my initial and subsequent (RI's) and quite happy to continue. No panic, no sweat, no anger :-)