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All concrete products will be going up 14% October 1st then again January
Us older guys have seen it all before.
Up until the ealy 1970's London Bricks were delivered to the Midlands on tipping wagons, if they were facing bricks we would hand off load them, common bricks were generally tipped. Then the empty wagons went on up to Cannock to collect a load of coal to take back for the coal fired brick kilns.
However LBC decided to change the kilns to being oil fired, just in time for the Oil Crisis in 1973, resulting in shortages and big price hikes.
It was only one of the intial problems, as the 70's went on things just went from bad to worse.
Currently in 2022 the problems we face have not yet gained force, there is a lot of talk but in reality very few people have been hit hard yet, all the talk about Winter heating fuel bills is still just that, talk, as the proposed price rises have not been enacted, the same with interest rates, it is just talk the interest rates have not yet increased significantly.
Back in the 70's, 80's and 90's there were a number of occasions when I actually got to the point when I realised I actually had to stop what I was doing to earn a living and do something else or else I would go under.
One of the biggest issues hitting small sole traders and the cost of materials isn't the actual cost as this is passed onto customers, it's the VAT threshold hasn't moved so lists of smal companies and some traders are going to get caught up in vat
I look at VAT the other way Dylan.
The vast majority of goods have VAT on them. The lifestyle businesses that are under the threshold for VAT are at a big advantage.
If l was starting over l would be setting aside the 10-12% of profits that aren't going to the VAT man for future growth and for bumps in the road. In other countries the threshold is far lower.
If VAT is crippling a business that is forced to register then it's just poor planning in my eyes given it's the level playing field the overwhelming majority are on.
it is what it is. All we can do is quote clients what it costs they either say yes or no. And your right things will grind to a halt my local sawmill is selling nothing to households now and this was 30% of the sales so noticeable already.
So far I haven't seen a drop in demand for what I do but I'm changing across to contracts as these have to be fulfilled whatever the financial climate is.
Would removing the VAT threshold and creating a level playing field for all businesses work in the U.K?