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Stradivarius to open first ever Glasgow store in Silverburn

Stradivarius to open first ever Glasgow store in Silverburn

Glasgow Times05-06-2025
Stradivarius is set to open its first store in the city at Silverburn, one of Glasgow's premier shopping destinations.
The new store will span 6,462 sq ft, bringing Stradivarius's signature blend of affordable, trend-led fashion to Scottish shoppers.
READ MORE: Leisure attraction reveals opening date for first-ever Scots venue in Silverburn
With this opening, Silverburn will proudly house four Inditex brands, including Zara, Pull&Bear, and the soon-to-launch Bershka, further cementing the centre's reputation as a hub for leading international retailers.
This news comes just days after the Glasgow Times reported that luxury beauty brand H Beauty will be opening in the centre this month.
The beauty hub will open its doors to customers next Thursday, June 12, with many discounts and freebies available at the launch.
READ MORE: Silverburn: H Beauty shares first look inside new Glasgow store
Founded in 1994, Stradivarius has grown into a global phenomenon, now operating more than 800 stores worldwide.
Its collections are celebrated for blending the latest styles with accessible pricing, appealing to a broad and fashion-forward audience.
David Pierotti, General Manager of Silverburn, welcomed the news: 'It's fantastic to be welcoming Stradivarius to Silverburn - another exciting addition from Inditex that reflects our continued commitment to providing a best-in-class experience for all our guests.
'The fact that Silverburn will host such a strong line-up of Inditex brands underlines the centre's status as Scotland's leading retail and leisure destination.'
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How Spain put up wealth taxes - without chasing away the billionaires
How Spain put up wealth taxes - without chasing away the billionaires

The Guardian

time19 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

How Spain put up wealth taxes - without chasing away the billionaires

With its green curtain of hanging gardens, the Planeta building is one of Barcelona's most recognisable office blocks. Earlier this summer, it was acquired as part of a Monopoly board spending spree by Spain's richest man, the Zara fashion label founder Amancio Ortega. Through his Pontegadea family office, which invests his personal wealth, Ortega has also just snapped up the five-star Hotel Banke in Paris, an apartment building in Florida, and a half-share in the operator of Teesport in the north-east of England, adding to a property portfolio already worth €20bn. Why the rush? Ortega is poised to receive a record dividend of €3.1bn (£2.7bn) this year from his shares in Zara's parent group, Inditex. He is reportedly racing to spend the windfall, which would otherwise be subject to wealth taxes. 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In the UK, the former Labour leader Neil Kinnock and the party's former shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds have joined those calling for Rachel Reeves to introduce a wealth tax when she sets out her budget in the autumn. As the chancellor looks at the options, which could also include changes to inheritance tax, members of her own party are pushing for a debate in parliament about introducing a 2% annual levy on those with assets over £10m, which they say could raise £24bn. In France, a similar proposal aimed squarely at the ultra-rich with assets of more than €100m was approved by the lower house but was rejected by the senate. Wealth taxes are designed to take a percentage of a person's assets each year. Once fairly common, they have gradually fallen out of use, replaced by levies that bite when money changes hands, for example, through dividend payments, inheritance and sales of shares or property. Spain's wealth tax dates to 1978, a year that marked the transition to democracy from dictatorship under Franco. Regional governments receive the revenues collected by the levy, a system that worked well until, after a brief pause during the financial crisis, it was brought back in 2011. On its return, Madrid's conservative administration responded by discounting the rate to zero. The move benefited the high-earning footballers at Real Madrid, attracted new residents from other regions, and incomers from Venezuela and other Latin American countries, boosting property prices. In 2022, the conservative-run region of Andalucía in the south, announced that it, too, would cut the rate to zero. In a play on the Spanish term for tax haven, paraíso fiscal, Madrid's regional leader posted on X: 'Andalucíans: welcome to paradise.' Then Galicia, in the north-west, where Ortega is resident for wealth tax, joined the fray by offering a 50% discount. A source of income that had been providing hundreds of millions of euros a year to support local services, including healthcare, was under threat. The battle to save it became a tussle between the socialist-led central government, headed by Pedro Sánchez, and conservative-run autonomous regional governments. At the end of December 2022, Sánchez took action, with the solidarity tax on large fortunes. Initially for two years, to help with public spending after the pandemic, it has now been rolled over until the regional financing is revised, which is not likely to happen soon. It was designed in such a way that whatever revenue was forfeited by the regions would be collected centrally. The rate starts at 1.7% for those with net wealth of €3m, rising to 3.5% for fortunes over €10m. It is payable on worldwide assets. There are allowances: the first €700,000 is exempted, as is €300,000 for the main residence. A cap to help the asset rich and cash poor means that combined income and wealth taxes cannot exceed 60% of income. Numbers shared with the Guardian by the Ministerio de Hacienda (the Spanish Treasury) show that in the first year, 2023, the regions collected €1.25bn, and the central government €630m; a total of €1.88bn. In 2024, the regions took the logical step of keeping the income for themselves. The total take rose to €2bn. 'The solidarity tax is not a tool to collect revenues for central government, it is a way of forcing regions to collect more,' says Dirk Foremny, associate professor of economics at the University of Barcelona. In that respect, it has worked perfectly. As a revenue raiser, it is limited. The approach from Madrid has been light touch, though the rules could be changed to raise more. The sums collected are on a par with inheritance tax – already heavily discounted by the regions – which raises about €3bn a year. By contrast, income taxes bring in €130bn. 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Estimates by Julio López Laborda, a professor of public economics at the University of Zaragoza, suggest that 80% of the assets of the richest 1% are not subject to the wealth tax. He says the family company exemption could represent a loss to the Treasury of about €2bn, while the cap on tax as a proportion of income, mentioned above, could account for another €2.5bn uncollected. Susana Ruiz, tax justice policy lead at Oxfam, which is working with López Laborda on a forthcoming report about wealth taxes, says: 'We could be raising at least two to three times more than we are at the moment.' Cutting public services in order to fund tax breaks, or simply balance the books, can create a doom loop, because it reduces the quality of provision, undermining the consensus on which taxation depends. In Madrid, declines in healthcare provision fuelled resentment among working people and created a sense that private provision was more efficient, says Ruiz. She believes the solidarity tax has helped rebuild confidence. 'There is a lot of citizen support behind it. It helps in the perception that the system is fair.' So far, there is no sign that it has affected growth. Spain was the world's fastest-expanding major advanced economy last year, outpacing even the US, with GDP up 3.2%. By contrast, growth in the UK and France last year barely scraped above 1%. On the balconies of the Planeta building, and in the country at large, the green shoots are alive and well.

ScotRail rolls with it in busiest 2025 week as Oasis fans flock to Edinburgh
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ScotRail rolls with it in busiest 2025 week as Oasis fans flock to Edinburgh

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Scots tycoon who led Rangers takeover bid jailed in Dubai over £1m fraud claim
Scots tycoon who led Rangers takeover bid jailed in Dubai over £1m fraud claim

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  • Scottish Sun

Scots tycoon who led Rangers takeover bid jailed in Dubai over £1m fraud claim

Bakhsh, who owns a mansion near Glasgow, was lifted at Dubai's airport before he could board a flight back to the UK HELLHOLE PRISON Scots tycoon who led Rangers takeover bid jailed in Dubai over £1m fraud claim Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A BUSINESSMAN who led a bid to buy Rangers was last night being held in a Dubai jail over an alleged £1million gold fraud. Shazad Bakhsh, 47, fronted a consortium from Singapore that was one of the contenders for the Ibrox club in 2012 after it went into administration. Sign up for the Rangers newsletter Sign up 3 Dubai's Al-Awir central prison in the United Arab Emirates 3 In March 2012, it was reported Bakhsh was the frontman for a possible bid for the Ibrox club But he is now behind bars in a 'hellhole' nick amid claims a local was ripped off over a loan to buy precious metals from Zimbabwe. When the sum wasn't repaid, the alleged victim reported it to police in the United Arab Emirates. As a result Bakhsh, who owns a mansion near Glasgow, was lifted at Dubai's airport before he could board a flight back to the UK. It is understood his wife Sonia, 37, is back at their home while the family awaits news of his release. But last night a source close to the case said: 'Mr Bakhsh is in a spot of bother. It's not clear how or when he is going to get out of jail.' The tycoon is understood to have been placed under travel restrictions in Dubai earlier this year after another alleged fraud was reported. He has been detained in the emirate's notorious Central Prison since his arrest on June 3. It has been described by inmates as a 'hellhole'. Prisoners have their heads shaved on entry and are then caged in terrifying conditions. Meanwhile, authorities in the desert state are also understood to be assessing other potential alleged cases against Bakhsh. Sources say he faces more claims from businessmen in Cyprus, Hungary, Switzerland and Singapore that he duped them out of large sums of money. In March 2012, it was reported he was the frontman for a possible bid for Gers after the club went bust under Craig Whyte's ownership. New Rangers chiefs Andrew Cavenagh and Paraag Marathe's first interview The consortium he was linked to was said to include financial backing from the Far East. And they were believed to be preparing an offer 'within hours' to administrators Duff and Phelps. At the time, Bakhsh was said to head a firm that hired out Rolls-Royce cars, jets and luxury yachts. Weeks later we told how English businessman Charles Green bought Rangers for £5.5million. A year earlier Bakhsh and his wife had been pictured at a restaurant in Glasgow with Michael Winner, the legendary Death Wish filmmaker who died in 2013 at 77. Bakhsh has more than a dozen directorships listed at Companies House, many of them registered to an address in Glasgow city centre. Several other 'dissolved' firms are linked to a property in the city's Hillhead. Occupations listed for him include company director, IT trainer and operations director. Sources say Bakhsh has operated in various sectors, including gold, currency and whisky. He has also amassed a fleet of luxury cars including Ferraris and Porsches. Documents show he paid £1.2million in 2015 for his sprawling home at Newton Mearns, near Glasgow. In 2019 he was behind plans for a £60million retirement village nearby with his company Scotsbridge. Last night a spokesman for the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office said: 'We are supporting a British man who is detained in Dubai and are in contact with the local authorities.' The Criminal Investigation Department of Dubai police has been contacted for comment.

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