Case Studies Category
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Which? tackles misleading supermarket offers
Which? has launched a super-complaint against supermarkets that exaggerate discounts. The consumer group is asking the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate multi-buys and "baffling" offers that can create the illusion of savings that don't exist. The group claims that around 40% of groceries (by revenue) in the UK are currently sold on promotion. With £115 billion spent on groceries and toiletries in 2013, consumers could be collectively losing out to the tune of hundreds of ...
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Fraudsters use fake invoices to target firms
Fraudsters are targeting businesses by hiding malware inside fake emailed invoices which then steal online banking credentials, according to Financial Fraud Action, the UK’s fraud intelligence unit. The new tactic involves fraudsters emailing a business with an invoice purporting to be from a regular supplier or other trusted source. The invoice will be a normal looking word processing or spreadsheet document, however to view the file the recipient has to enable a macro – a set ...
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RPA update on BPS claims
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has announced more detail on next steps for farmers and landowners who wish to claim for Basic Payment Scheme 2015. The Agency says that pre-populated BP5 claim forms will start to be sent out next week by email, to everyone who has registered on the Rural Payments online system. They will also get guidance on how to apply via email initially, with paper copies to follow in the post. Where a farmer has ...
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Kraft accused of manipulating wheat price
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has accused Kraft Foods and Mondelēz Global of manipulating the prices of cash wheat and wheat futures. According to the CFTC, in response to high cash wheat prices in late Summer 2011, Kraft and Mondelēz developed and executed a strategy to buy $90 million of December 2011 wheat futures, which amounted to a six-month supply of wheat. The US regulator alleges that Kraft and Mondelēz never intended to take delivery of ...
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No rise in AHDB levy
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has announced that there will be no rise in levy rates, for the third year running. In addition, the Board says its focus for the 12 months ahead will be as follows: to help levy payers improve productivity and cost management (resource management, climate change, soils and water, managing market volatility) to help levy payers prevent and manage disease to help levy payers deliver market development (export development, promoting quality products to ...
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IT problems hit Basic Payment Scheme
IT problems at the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) mean that farmers and their agents will have to resort to pen and paper to complete their applications for the Basic Payment Scheme. The Agency is still promising to make payments from December 2015 but apart from registering, farmers will not be asked to enter any further data online. From 23rd March, two forms will be available to download from the RPA's website. These are: RLE1, which ...
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Business rates up for review
HM Treasury has launched a wide-ranging review of national business rates, examining the structure of the current system which is paid annually on 1.8 million properties in England. It will look at how businesses use property, what the UK can learn from other countries about local business taxes, and how the system could be modernised to reflect changes in the value of property. The review is set to report back by Budget 2016.
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Agricultural apprentices up 25%
There have been over 36,000 applications for apprenticeships in the food and farming sector in the past year, a nine fold increase since 2010. According to government figures, more than 7,000 young people embarked on agricultural related apprenticeships with the figure up almost 25% since 2010. Environment Secretary, Elizabeth Truss, comments: "The Government is partnering up with industry to open up more apprenticeships in the sector, as farming alone will need tens of thousands of new people ...
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Intellectual Property – help with impressing lenders
UK businesses can now benefit from a toolkit that can people understand and present the value of their Intellectual Property (IP) to potential lenders. The toolkit aims to: help lenders and businesses talk the same language when understanding the value of IP encourage and guide businesses to document their IP assets ahead of any application for finance help businesses to develop more effective IP management and commercialisation strategies raise awareness of the wide variety of finance options available for IP-rich businesses According to the Intellectual Property Office, ...
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New water and woodland grants for farmers
Environment Minister, Dan Rogerson, has announced that Natural England will be accepting applications for Water Capital Grants from 2nd March. Providing £10 million worth of government funding to the farm industry, the grants will help fund new projects to reduce the impact agriculture can have on water quality. Farmers, land managers and foresters are also being encouraged to apply for Woodland Capital Grants, worth a total of £4 million, to create new woodland. The Water and Woodland Capital ...
