Lee Cooper Owner Plots Sale Of Iconic Brand

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The owner of the Lee Cooper clothing brand is putting it up for sale seven years after acquiring it from Matalan, the discount retailer.

I understand that Sun European Partners, a private equity firm, has appointed investment bankers to sell Lee Cooper.

Sun has owned the business, which no longer manufactures clothing, since 2005. It bought Lee Cooper for £30.5m in partnership with The 180 Group and Emerisque Capital, two other investment firms.

The current owner plans to approach a group of potential trade bidders such as Iconix, which recently bought the football kit brand Umbro, to gauge their appetite for a deal.

Sports Direct, which has assembled a range of sports and leisurewear brands, is also likely to be sounded out.

People close to the process said Lee Cooper was likely to fetch about £40m from a sale.

Sun, which has appointed DC Advisory Partners to handle the process, declined to comment.

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Jaguar Land Rover Launches China Expansion

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent

Jaguar Land Rover is to manufacture cars outside the United Kingdom for the first time.

The company has entered into a joint venture with one of China's largest car makers Chery.

The two firms began work to build a factory near Shanghai today.

"For the first time one of the most famous names in the British automotive industry, Jaguar Land Rover, is poised to begin manufacturing in a market outside the United Kingdom," the company's CEO Dr Ralf Speth said at the stone-laying ceremony.

"It seems only fitting that this new venture will take place here, in the People's Republic of China, the world's fastest-growing market for premium vehicles."

Kay Francis, the company's director of global corporate communications, told Sky News: "This is our first ever manufacture plant outside the UK.

"The facility here in China will include research and development, engine plants and production lines. Start to finish, the cars will be made in China," Ms Francis added.

Executives at Jaguar Land Rover have been in complicated negotiations with their counterparts at Chery for months.

Chery is a state-owned company and Chinese government approval was required before any deal could be signed.

The joint venture project was approved by China's National Development and Reform Commission last month.

The first bricks of the new factory were laid at a ceremony in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, to the northwest of Shanghai.

Yin Tongyao, the president of Chery Automobile, and Dr Speth were both there.

"Soon, on this very site, will be a fully-fledged manufacturing plant, to create employment, stimulate the supply chain and develop game-changing environmental technologies for China. A total of 10.9bn renmimbi (£1bn) will be invested in this joint venture," Dr Speth said.

"In our shared vision with Chery, this partnership will offer Chinese customers the latest generation models from Jaguar and Land Rover, as well as vehicles designed specifically for Chinese customers," he said.

The company hopes that the first cars will roll off the production line in 2014.

It is understood the first vehicle to be built at the factory will be the Land Rover Freelander.

The company would not confirm that suggestion.

"We intend to build Jaguar and Land Rover branded products here... It's likely that a Land Rover badged vehicle will be the first to come out of the plant when it opens in 2014," Ms Francis said.

Volkswagen already manufactures VWs, Audis, Skodas and Seats in China

China has become Jaguar Land Rover's largest market and experts say it has not even begun to reach its potential.

Sales of the company's cars reached 53,000 there in the first nine months of this year - that's up 80 per cent from the year before.

The reason behind the boost is China's demand for luxury goods.

Jaguar Land Rover has sold 20,000 Range Rover Evoques this year alone.

The firm hopes to boost last year's record £1.5bn profits when the new Chinese factory begins work.

Building cars in China rather than importing them from the UK allows the company to avoid massive import duties.

Chinese-made vehicles can be sold for less and the hope is that more will be bought.

The company insists the expansion to China is in addition to their business in the UK and that no UK jobs will be lost as a result.

"Everything we do in China is in addition to our UK operation. We are not shifting production and it doesn't impact the head count and state of play of the plants in Britain," Ms Francis said.

Jaguar Land Rover does have a factory in Pune, India, but that acts simply as an assembly plant, constructing flat-packed cars which are manufactured in the UK.

Compared with other European car makers, Jaguar Land Rover is very late in expanding production to China.

Volkswagen began its first joint venture in China in 1984. Volkswagen Group China now manufactures VWs, Audis, Skodas and Seats in China with year-on-year record sales.

Ageing Volkswagens are a common sight in Beijing; a sign of just how long the company has been operating here.

Audi is now the favoured brand for the political elite in China. Black Audi A6 cars, manufactured in China, are seen all over Beijing.

Jaguar Land Rover says that as well as building cars identical to those built in the UK, it plans to build a new vehicle designed specifically for the Chinese market. 

"We may also build a brand of car that is a blend of the two: a car that is new and designed and developed entirely in China," Ms Francis said.

"Having Chinese research and development means we can tailor cars for Chinese tastes."

British brands are very popular in China. Combine that with the fact that China has an increasingly wealthy urban population and there are significant opportunities which could help strengthen the UK economy.

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PM Calls For More Exports To Boost Growth

The Prime Minister has urged business leaders to "spread" export opportunities to help small and medium-sized companies.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), David Cameron said:  "Our market may be subdued, but there is fantastic growth elsewhere in the world.

"We need to spread export opportunities right down to small and medium-sized businesses."

He also said: "Britain is in a global race to succeed today. Every week you step off aeroplanes in the South and East and feel the pace of change there."

Mr Cameron said there would also be a slashing of red tape, which is holding back British enterprise, and he now plans to reduce bureaucratic hurdles for British businesses.

The PM has encouraged businesses to export to other growing economies

He argued: "Back in 1998, there were 4,500 (judicial) applications for review and that number almost tripled in a decade. We urgently needed to get a grip on this."

The Prime Minister pointed the finger at lobbyists, as pressure from them creates "risk-averse" civil servants.

"Over the past two and a half years, I've worked with exceptional civil servants who are as creative and enterprising as any entrepreneur, and they are as frustrated with a lot of this bureaucratic rubbish as I am."

He warned bureaucrats also needed to use the same spirit that was needed to defeat Hitler during the Second World War, in order to get the economy back on track, and warned the country is at the "economic equivalent of war".

Mr Cameron said: "When this country was at war in the 1940s, Whitehall underwent a revolution.

"Normal rules were circumvented. Convention was thrown out. As one historian put it, everything was thrown at 'the overriding purpose' of beating Hitler.

Britain came out of its longest double-dip recession since the 1950s

"Well, this country is in the economic equivalent of war today - and we need the same spirit."

Also speaking at the conference was Business Secretary Vince Cable, who told business leaders he was pressing ahead with plans to reverse constraints on skills that have resulted from a historic "serious lack of investment".

He maintained that the supply of high quality, skilled workers was increasingly important for future economic growth.

Mr Cable said the UK needed to remain open to overseas workers and investors, because that was how Britain had gained much of its industrial and business expertise.

This year's conference takes place against the backdrop of rebounding economic growth, but the outlook remains uncertain.

Recent data showed gross domestic product jumped 1% in the third quarter, as Britain powered out of its longest double-dip recession since the 1950s with the help of the London Olympic Games.

However, the Bank of England forecast last week that the economy could shrink again in the fourth quarter, with low growth expected for the next three years due to the eurozone debt crisis, tight credit and inflationary pressures.

Ed Miliband said leaving the EU would undermine the UK's economy

Meanwhile, Labour leader Ed Miliband sought to pile pressure on David Cameron ahead of a crunch EU budget summit next week, by saying that Britain must take a "hard-headed" approach to the problems facing the EU.

Mr Miliband, who last month joined forced with Tory rebels to defeat the Government over its strategy, said Labour must not ignore the legitimate concerns of eurosceptics.

David Cameron travels to Brussels on Thursday facing pressure from his backbenchers to push for the real-terms spending cut approved in the non-binding Commons vote, which Labour helped secure.

The Prime Minister, who insists a rise in line with inflation is a more realistic target in the negotiations, has threatened to use the UK's veto if the rise proposed by the Commission is not drastically reduced.

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Warning Over 'Burnout Britain' For Workers

More than half of British employees are now working longer hours than they were three years ago, a new report suggests.

Researchers said some 58% of workers say their job demands have expanded, while 34% believe they are affected by excessive pressure.

The study, published by professional services firm Tower Watson, surveyed 32,000 employees worldwide for its global workforce study (GWS), including 2,600 workers in the UK.

It claimed Britain is heading for a "well-being meltdown" due to the pressure of the recession.

"From pay cuts to longer working hours, the GWS highlights the demands on workers that the recession has brought about, with only half (53%) of UK workers feeling their stress levels at work are manageable," it said.

"Despite increasing requirements for businesses to provide workers with advice on health and well-being, just a third (31%) of employees feel that their senior leaders support such policies."

Researchers added that British workers feel a need to display their commitment to the job as more than a 25% have failed to maximise their annual holiday or personal time off entitlements since 2009.

Exacerbated by the trend of cutting workforce numbers, one-in-five employees now feels that the amount of work they are asked to do is unreasonable, meanwhile 30% believe their organisation is under-funded in human resources.

The study showed results for the UK were broadly in line with those seen across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with similar numbers of workers feeling that there was excessive pressure, longer working hours and fewer resources.

Towers Watson said it also identified a clear link between the levels of well-being and engagement in a company's workforce and organisational performance.

It said that firms with low engagement produced an average operating margin of around 10% while organisations with high sustainable engagement performed nearly three times better - with operating margins of over 27%

Another issue that appeared was career development being hampered because staff were retiring at a later age, with a trend appearing of three generations appearing in the workforce.

Towers Watson's Nick Tatchell, who was involved in the research, said: "About a quarter of the people we interviewed thought because people weren't retiring it was becoming an issue.

"There is another issue and that is of people being 'stuck'. The want to contribute and they want to do a good job.

"But only about half of them say they have the 'tools' to achieve that and believe they are 'stuck'.

He added: "So they feel they are stuck both with tools and resources and also in their careers. People feel that is lacking at the moment."

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Business Bosses Slate 'School Exams Factory'

Britain's education system is fostering a "cult of the average", failing to help the brightest youngsters or those most in need, business leaders have warned.

In a new report, the CBI says too many children fall behind and never catch up, and that in some cases, secondary schools have become little more than exam factories.

Decades of "patchwork" reforms have confused schools, encouraged a tick box culture that has put off teachers and resulted in a narrow focus on exams and league tables, the UK's biggest business group adds.

The report calls for a major overhaul to ensure that all children can succeed.

It recommends radical changes, such as reducing the importance of GCSEs and making A-levels the main exam for school leavers, and moving away from league tables in favour of Ofsted reports.

"The education system fosters a cult of the average: too often failing to stretch the most able or support those that need most help," the CBI says.

CBI director-general John Cridland said, while businesses want school leavers to have a rigorous education, they also want it to be "rounded and grounded".

"Today we have a system where, sadly, a large minority of our young people fall behind," he said.

"They fall behind and never catch up. It's not the fault of any individual concerned. It's not the fault of children, parents or teachers. It's a system failure. It's not acceptable any more than it's not acceptable that the top 10% are not stretched enough."

Mr Cridland added: "This generation of young people are as streetwise as any, but sometimes in the education system we're not always bottling that.

"In some cases, secondary schools have become an exam factory. Qualifications are important, but we also need people who have self-discipline and serve customers well."

Ministers have announced plans to scrap GCSEs and replace them with new English Baccalaureate Certificates in English, maths and science. Reviews of A-levels and the national curriculum are also under way.

Mr Cridland said: "Government reforms are headed in the right direction, but are not sufficient on their own. They need to go further and they need to go faster."

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Empty Shops Rate Sets 'Alarm Bells Ringing'

One in 10 shops in UK high streets and shopping centres were empty in October - the worst figure since the British Retail Consortium's nationwide survey began in July 2011.

As retailers continue to battle against stagnating sales and rising costs, the new figures showed last month's town centre vacancy rate at 11.3%.

A fifth of store units are currently empty in Northern Ireland, while the rate for Wales is 15.1% and for the North & Yorkshire region the rate is 14.6%. Greater London had 7.6% of its units lying empty.

BRC director general Stephen Robertson said the latest figures would set "alarm bells ringing" and the financial challenges for both customers and retailers were far from over.

Big brands including JJB Sports, Clinton Cards, Blacks Leisure, Game and Peacocks have either disappeared or scaled back their presence in town centres after going into administration.

And the collapse of electricals chain Comet this month will be another blow.

Mr Robertson renewed his call for Chancellor George Osborne to freeze business rates, which are set to increase by 2.6% in April.

He said: "Many retailers are battling stagnating sales and rising costs, and next year's threatened business rates increase can only make matters worse.

"If the Government wants to breathe life back into our town centres and ensure the retail industry can play its full role in job creation, it needs to freeze rates in 2013."

In response, a Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "Empty shops are a wasted economic opportunity that spoil the town centre.

"That is why we are proposing to scrap the damaging red tape that is keeping so many shops boarded up, allowing young entrepreneurs to open pop-up shops and turn the high streets into an exciting start-up launchpad.

"The best thing Government can do to help businesses is to provide them with a stable economic environment, which is why we want to protect local firms from soaring tax bills.

"We've postponed the revaluation, which will stop soaring tax bills for 800,000 firms, and given businesses the option of spreading this year's increases out over three years.

"Councils also have the power to grant discretionary discounts, and we've temporarily doubled small business rate relief, meaning approximately a third of a million businesses - including many small shops - are currently paying no rates at all."

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Supermarkets Slammed Over Multi-Buy Deals

Supermarket multi-buy deals can end up not saving consumers money, according to a new report.

Consumer watchdog Which? monitored more than 100 products on sale over the course of a year at Britain's biggest supermarkets.

It found that around 10% of products became more expensive on multi-buy deals, some deals did not offer any saving at all and some products were almost permanently on discount or multi-buy.

One example was Goodfella's Deep Pan Baked Pepperoni Pizza, which more than doubled in price at Asda when it was on offer.

Another was Nestle Munch Bunch Yogurt at Tesco and Sainsbury's which, over a year, was either £1 or two-for-£2 - meaning either way the yogurt still cost the same.

Waitrose was also accused of having misleading offers in their stores.

"With household budgets squeezed and rising food costs among the top worries for consumers, it's all the more important that stores make it as easy as possible for people to spot the best value products," Which? said in a statement.

Multi-buy deals have become increasingly popular with Britain's largest supermarkets. Out of 115 products looked at by Which? 43% were on offer during the first part of 2012.

But it seems the public are getting wise to this kind of pricing tactic - with 73% of those asked saying they prefer discounts to multi-buy offers.

Food shop is among consumers' biggest weekly expenses, with increases in food prices seen as the second largest contributor to last week's rise in inflation.

However, supermarkets have defended their promotions strategies.

"Customers tell us they want low prices, not a strategy that gives with one hand and takes with the other, we're making sure the cost of the weekly shop is consistently low, with no surprises," Asda said.

Meanwhile Sainsbury's added: "We never seek to mislead our customers."

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Boris Johnson Condemns Property Tax Plans

Boris Johnson has condemned proposals for a tax raid on owners of expensive homes, insisting the focus should be on ensuring firms like Google pay their way.

The Mayor of London, in a speech to the CBI, warned that high rates of personal taxation will make Britain less competitive.

Mr Johnson hailed the economic success of the capital but stressed that it could not be taken for granted.

"In the 19th century London became the biggest and richest city on earth because of its openness to trade and to talent," he is to say.

"I am worried that we are losing some of that openness at a critical time."

Mr Johnson called for a new "Age of Enterprise", saying it requires the Government to be "responsive to what is happening in the rest of the world".

"I am afraid that high rates of personal taxation are likely to make us less competitive," he said.

"We should have taxes that are low but fair and it is absurd to be suddenly whacking up taxes on cash poor people who happen to inhabit expensive houses in London when firms like Google are paying zero.

"Neither arrangement strikes me as being fair and so Google and co face a very clear choice - they can either change their tax arrangements or do much more to serve our society by visibly taking on 18 to 24-year-olds who are out of work."

His intervention came after Business Secretary Vince Cable indicated some kind of levy on property is being considered for inclusion in next month's Autumn Statement.

The Lib Dems have been pushing for a new wealth tax and there have been reports council tax bands could be hiked for properties worth £1m.

This is despite both David Cameron and George Osborne insisting the Government would not introduce a so-called "mansion tax".

The Chancellor is negotiating on the contents of his key statement on December 5, which is set to include a fresh round of welfare cuts.

Mr Cable said on Sunday: "These areas are under discussion and the devil will be in the detail but it is right that we do tax wealth and property is the obvious place to go.

"One reason that it is fairer is that it cannot run off to Monaco and Liechtenstein. When trying to deal with abuse of the tax system, it is the best way of doing it."

In his CBI speech, Mr Johnson also urged politicians to be positive about the country's prospects and stop using the "rhetoric of austerity"

"If you endlessly tell business to tighten their belts and eat nut cutlets and drink their own urine then you will be putting a big downer on growth and enterprise," he declared.

"Give British firms the right platform for enterprise and there are no limits to what they can achieve."

He insisted it was time to stop "vilifying bankers" but said leading bankers must now show "moral leadership" to help Britain's recovery.

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HMRC Puts Directors' Tax Under Microscope

HM Revenue and Customs has stepped up investigations into unpaid taxes by directors, according to an international law firm.

The Tax Office's Large Business Service (LBS) is investigating directors and senior executives over taxes including PAYE, and National Insurance contributions.

Some £400m in being investigated, according to Pinsent Masons – a figure which is 43% higher than the £280m under investigation last year.*

LBS is responsible for oversight of the taxes paid by the 770 largest firms in the UK.

The increased scrutiny comes as it seeks to recover a greater amount after reduction in the top 50p tax rate.

"Tax under consideration" is seen to include both potentially underpaid tax and the risk to the Exchequer from companies litigating over amounts of tax they have overpaid.

Pinsent Masons said the sharp rise in directors' taxes under the microscope has been driven by the upswing in HMRC compliance activity, as well as investigations into avoidance linked to the 50p tax rate and the temporary special tax on bank bonuses.

Foreign multinationals have been slammed over tax avoidance

Partner Jason Collins said: "HMRC has increased its focus on executives as they are a potentially lucrative source of extra tax revenue - particularly with executive pay rocketing over recent times.

"HMRC has taken a particular interest in cases where income or an individual's role at a company has been structured to reduce their tax burden, particularly their PAYE or national insurance contributions."

He added: "The introduction of new taxes for higher earners, such as the 50p marginal tax rate, mean HMRC will be on increased alert for any new forms of tax avoidance.

"The 50p tax brought in less than expected, so this may have set alarm bells ringing for tax investigators."

With increased awareness of corporations avoiding liability, the Tax Office is expected to look at avoidance or evasion by top executives.

JP Morgan staff have been warned over 'disguised remuneration'

Recent legislation has empowered HMRC to tackle 'disguised remuneration', in particular against employee benefit trusts (EBTs).

Earlier this month Sky News revealed how former and present staff at JP Morgan had been warned of litigation if they did not resolve 'dependent funds' sent offshore to Jersey.

The investment bank's staff who were part of the employee benefit trusts of 1998, 2006, 2007 and 2008 and the 2010 executive retirement plan are affected by the HMRC action.

HMRC has estimated that up to £1.7bn of tax and NI contributions were at stake in EBTs.

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More Jobs To Be Slashed At Troubled Comet

Struggling retailer Comet is to cut a further 735 jobs, administrator Deloitte has announced.

It said some 600 jobs have been lost from the company's home delivery network, which operates from 12 hubs across the UK.

It has made a further 57 employees redundant from Comet's head office at Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, as well as 56 from a call centre in Clevedon.

A further 17 staff have been made redundant from an office in Hull.

The sites were also the subject of 330 redundancies announced by the administrator last week.

There have been no job losses to date at Comet stores, but Deloitte warned on Saturday that up to 41 stores may have to close before the end of this month.

The collapse of Comet marks one of the biggest high street casualties since the demise of Woolworths in 2008 and came a month after the failure of JJB Sports.

The group was hit by weak high street trading conditions, competition from online rivals and being unable to secure the trade credit insurance needed to safeguard suppliers.

In particular, it was knocked by the lack of first-time home buyers, who have been key customers for Comet, according to Deloitte.

The high street electricals market in the UK has come under huge pressure as cash-strapped shoppers put off purchases of big-ticket items, such as TVs and large appliances, and online rivals take a bigger slice of the sector.

Comet's administration comes just months after it was taken over by investment firm OpCapita, which bought the chain for a nominal £2 in February.

Angry staff at the chain have called for ministers to investigate the retailer's collapse and the way its former private equity owners ran the company.

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