Tag: christmas

National Insurance Contributions …. Am I missing something ?

Posted on by markybrett

Being the season of goodwill and all that. Everybody is reading about :

  • 127 ways of roasting a turkey/goose/chicken
  • Why do the British put cream/custard/ice cream on meat pies (mince pies-for all Non Brits) ?
  • How to feed a family of four at Christmas for £1.78
  • Why a Local Vicar is telling small children that Father Christmas does not exist

I felt the need to write something completely inappropriate and what could be more inappropriate than National Insurance Contributions.

I try very hard not to say anything about politics, there are bucket loads of people who can do that for better or for worse . I am politically disenfranchised . I think those on the left, on the right and the centre have lost the plot . And not just in the UK .

Therefore, my question here is not aimed, in this case against the Labour party or their last budget , about which I have many other more pressing questions, but the effect it will have or not have on UK Businesses.

UK Business Plc is jumping up and down, screaming from the roof tops that it is sheer madness and will make prices will go through the roof or the entire economy will collapse over night. Whilst I dont’t think it will induce growth , and I think there are better ways to fill the black holes, if you drill down, I need to be illuminated as to why it will have such a detrimental impact on costs and then prices in the way that is being suggested .

A rise of 1.2% on a rate of 13.8% significant. The calculation I have found is that this will make a increase for an organisation employing somebody on the new minimum wage of £12.21 of approximately 0.4% . However, if you look at various data sources, the cost of labour to a UK business as a percentage varies between 15% -40% , very much dependant on the type of organisation . This would equate (even at 40% ) to the new NIC adding less than 0.2% to a company’s costs. The sort of increases facing companies on a daily basis make this pale into insignificance. Or relative insignificance. The increase in the minimum wage alone will have a much bigger impact on company costs. But not surprisingly that is not what the headlines are, as it is difficult to argue that increasing the lowest wage is a bad thing.

Here is an example:

Morrisson Supermarkets in an article on retailgazette.co.uk said the NIC would cost them £75 million. According to their 2022/23 balance sheet their wage bill was just north of £3 Billion. The £75 mil equates to 2.5% . 1.2% increase = £36 million. Their sales turnover was £18 billion in 2023.

This is not to pick on Morrisons, as I suspect other major chains have similar cost profiles. But it is very diffcult to imagine that a 1.2% increase in their labour costs would have a major impact on their performance, especially as some of this would be obviated by marginal price increases, all off which are the same for all their competitors. Moreover, in their case they are undergoing a cost cutting exercise including reducing their debt levels by 40%.

Shoe Zone, a UK retail chain of shoe shops are planning to close stores because of both NIC and Minimum Wage increases . It does not make sense. They state that their position in the market makes them very price sensitive . Well, its the same for theother discount shoe stores. And let’s remind ourselves this is the minimum wage not the National Living Wage.

The issues facing 2025 for the UK businesses ( and much of Europe) are general rising costs , very flat consumer demand, and political uncertainties. An argument over NIC is just the tip of an iceberg and enables Business to voice it’s concerns via a soft target. Some financial journalists are already saying the budget has already impacted on prices when none of them come into effect until April 2025.

Whilst I don’t see any economic growth with this budget there could be be grwoth in inflation due to the increase in NIC & Min Wage . Not terribly helpful as this will hinder and delay future interest rate cuts which would help growth.

If I have got this wrong , I would really like to know , otherwise Seasons Greetings ! And yes the last 2 images are AI generated – What fun we have …..Or is it what fun it has with us !

The Great British Traditionalist… just voted Turkey for Christmas…Again !

Posted on by markybrett

Well stuff ‘em . The turkeys that is. Like many traditions, or what many consider are British traditions, are not that traditional .

Turkeys were brought to England (from Mexico) in the sixteenth century but were not readily eaten at Christmas until the mid 19th Century. It was not until the mid 1950’s did they become common place at the British Christmas dining table. What was more traditional was Boars Head, Goose, Pheasant, Peacock and probably the odd lazy servant.

I think there are 4 types of traditionalists:

  1. Those that think: anything that happened in the past, and doesn’t happen anymore for good reason, was a good thing . Such as bear baiting, sticking kids up chimneys, flogging idle servants, and thinking women having an education was bad for them.
  2. Those that think: that stuff we do now, has been going on for hundreds of years. Turkeys (see above), Red Santa Suits (Coke Cola first dressed him in red to match their bottle labels), Fish and chips (sort of true but fried fish came from Sephardic Jews, in this case from Holland). It may come as a surprise to some that it was not until 1958 that the Presbyterian church in Scotland accepted December the 25th as a public holiday.
  3. Those that think: anything before the mid 1950’s was glorious and wonderful, despite big chunks of the population living in squalor, outside toilets, poor health , comparatively low wages, severe inequality, homosexuality a criminal offence,loads of wars and a stream of other really unpleasant circumstances .
  4. Those who think: of the real traditions , such Morris Dancing for the English (late 15th Century), Scottish tartans (even they have been discovered to be used pre-Roman). The bagpipe tradition goes long past those used in Scotland. Bog snorkelling, cheese rolling, Afternoon Tea and there is, of course , the English Breakfast which can be traced back to the 13th Century. Not least, of course is the Pub . Most of these have fared well overseas , especially Afternoon Tea, English Breakfasts and Pubs. All of which can be found in many towns and cities throughout the world. The one that does struggle is the Christmas Cracker. A British tradition which I know that for many years UK suppliers have struggled to export to the ungrateful world audiences .
Bear Baiting-er not a good thing
Victorian Chimney Sweep-No they weren’t happy !

“To eat well in England you should have breakfast three times a day.”-Great tradition, despite the look of The Lady of the House

W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

I believe that these categories stand the test in most cultures albeit with rather different examples. The first three tend to be those that trump (accidental, but am happy with such an appropriate verb) loudest and have driven much political thought in recent times. Not that driving political thought is a crime but it is when misleading.

Not only is the word tradition , a misleading political concept , it is often used in very similar ways for marketing, especially in the UK during the Christmas period. Why are Boxing Days Sales a tradition ? No they are not.

a way of behaving or belief that has been established for a long time or the practice of following behaviour and beliefs that have been so established.

Cambridge Dictionary Definition of the word Tradition

Nor is Black Friday, Summer sales, Spring Sales, or referring back to Father Christmas in his jolly red suit. They were, or rather, are marketing ploys. Nothing wrong with them , but there is, if they are vicariously foistered upon an unsuspecting public, as traditions. Father’s day , was invented ( not completely true, but as with Mothers day) was hijacked and promoted in order to sell greetings cards and men’s underwear during the great depression. Nowt wrong with that , you may say. But there is, if it continues for another one hundred years with the main purpose of selling a load of old tat.

In my book, a tradition has to be underpinned by a historical narrative that has created a positive addition to the culture from which it originates .

“The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it”

Mark Twain