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Powys County Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Powys County Times
Knighton Hotel nearly fully reopened following refurbishment
THE restoration of an historic Powys hotel is very nearly complete, after nine months of hard work. The Knighton Hotel has undergone a huge transformation in the last year, with its new owners aiming to 'bring it back to life'. Scaffolding that had surrounded the 19th century hotel has come down in recent months and even though the restaurant and coffee shop are still not quite ready to open, the hotel announced earlier this month that the restoration, which started last year, is now complete. 'Throughout the restoration of the Knighton Hotel, one thing kept us going – how much this building means to the town and to all of you,' the Knighton Hotel said in a Facebook post on May 12. 'We didn't just want to give it a fresh coat of paint, we wanted to bring it back to life, while holding on to its soul, its character and that warm, familiar feeling so many of you grew up with. 'We've heard the stories; the weddings, the farewells, the Sunday lunches, the childhood memories of sliding down the majestic staircase, and we've loved every single one. 'It reminded us why this place matters. It's not just a hotel, it's part of Knighton 's story. 'So, while our coffee shop and restaurant aren't quite ready yet, our doors are open and always will be for you. 'Whether you're planning a get-together, celebrating a milestone or just popping in for a chat with an old friend, you're always welcome here. 'Pop in, say hello, and help us bring the heart of Knighton back to life.' The Grade Two listed 16-bedroom property dates back to 1867. After failing to sell at an auction held at Aston Villa Football Club in 2019, the town centre landmark was bought and revamped by Payman Investments in 2021. Both it and its sister venue, the Radnorshire Arms Hotel, in neighbouring Presteigne, had been closed and on the market since the summer of 2018, with the loss of major tourism income causing concern in both towns. In 2021, Na'ím Anís Paymán acquired the Knighton Hotel and initiated a comprehensive revamp, attempting to breathe new life into this historic venue. He channelled his passion for real estate and hospitality into creating exceptional guest experiences in historic settings. Speaking about the near nine-month restoration of the Broad Street venue, a hotel spokesperson said: 'The project focused on the Victorian section of the hotel, which had suffered significant structural issues due to water ingress and decay. 'Key works included the removal and replacement of render panels, repair or replacement of rotten timber within the original façade, and selective structural strengthening – particularly around the main hall and front elevation. 'The building's rainwater systems were also repaired to prevent future deterioration. 'Work began in August 2024 and was completed in April 2025, spanning just over 35 weeks. 'All work was carried out with full consideration of the building's Grade Two listed status and historic significance.' Pop in to the Knighton Hotel to dine, drink or stay. Alternatively, contact the venue on 0333 444 4324, email sales@ or visit
Telegraph
28-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Britain's non-dom crackdown has become Reeves's most costly mistake
Rachel Reeves likes to present herself as a friend of the global elite, rubbing shoulders with finance ministers in Washington and posting pictures online meeting Wall Street billionaires. But behind the facade, a storm is brewing at home over the Government's change to non-dom tax rules on these financial masters of the universe, who help fuel a disproportionate amount of UK tax receipts. Fresh figures this week showed that the British Government is having to borrow more than expected, as tax income typically paid by the wealthiest has disappointed since the start of the year. Lower capital gains taxes, levies on self-assessed income and a weak growth in financial services bonuses have also contributed to the dire picture for Reeves. The list of wealthy non-doms and British business owners fleeing the UK is also growing longer by the day, with places such as Dubai, Italy and Greece mopping up Britain's richest émigrés. Last week, Goldman Sachs' most senior banker outside the US, Richard Gnodde, and British billionaire brothers Ian and Richard Livingstone became the latest to shift their tax domicile outside the UK. They join Egypt's richest man, Nassef Sawiris, who co-owns Aston Villa Football Club. And steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, whose family is worth £15bn, is expected to follow. Advisers to wealthy global elites warn the chickens are coming home to roost after the Reeves's tax changes and that efforts to scale back attacks on the wealthy have fallen short. As the Chancellor settles back in from her Washington trip, is she starting to regret her move to collapse the non-dom regime? Among the first to know when a billionaire or multimillionaire decides to up and leave are their tax advisors. Ceri Vokes, a partner at law firm Withers, says around 10pc to 15pc of her clients have left Britain because of Reeves's less generous non-dom scheme and changes to inheritance tax for business owners. Those with the most to lose are the first to leave, she says. 'It's definitely the case that the clients who left were those at the upper end of the wealth spectrum. We definitely saw more billionaires leave than millionaires and hundred-millionaires,' Vokes says. Reeves in January tried to temper the blow with a more generous phase-out of the tax benefit but it 'had absolutely zero impact on client behaviour,' Vokes says. Britain's non-dom rules, which date back to the days of William Pitt the Younger, allow foreigners living in the UK to avoid paying tax on income from abroad. In the 21st century, these wealthy non-doms have become an increasingly important source of tax revenue for successive British governments. According to the latest government figures, there were 37,800 non-doms in the UK in 2022 who chose to only have foreign income or capital gains taxed if brought into the country. On average, these people paid £170,700 each in income and capital gains taxes as well as National Insurance contributions. In comparison, the average British worker pays £7,000 in income tax and National Insurance and most would have paid no capital gains tax at all. Stuart Adam, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, says it is impossible to say with any certainty yet whether the blow from wealthy people upping and leaving is bigger than Britain's fiscal watchdog had anticipated. Indeed, just as much of a concern is how many people would normally come that now won't – a difficult thing to measure. There is a lot at stake however, he warns. The top 1pc of the highest-earning workers pay 28.2pc of all of the Government's income tax revenues. If you zoom out a little further, the top 5pc pay just less than half at 48.8pc. 'One of the consequences of tax revenue becoming more reliant on a smaller number of people is that it does make the public finances more vulnerable to the behaviour of that small number of people,' Adam says. 'If you did see a large exodus, that would have an outside impact on the public finances. That is a reason to worry,' he adds. While the Office for Budget Responsibility has done its best to 'guess' the impact of policy changes to inheritance taxes and the non-dom scheme, the overall signal also matters and is far harder to estimate, Adam says. 'Once you have changes to the non-dom regime, inheritance tax, capital gains tax and VAT on private schools ... lots of these things affect overlapping groups of people. '[The question is] whether people take it as a signal of a direction of travel and worry about what may be coming down the line, or what kind of an environment the UK is to be in, and therefore you have a bigger effect than you might expect from individual policies in isolation,' he says. Some studies suggest there is already a surge of millionaires abandoning Britain for lower-tax regions because of the UK's change to the non-dom rules, which were first floated by the previous Conservative government. Henley & Partners claimed the UK lost 10,800 people who are millionaires last year, more than twice as many as in 2023 and more than any country except much more populous China. The firm blamed changes to the non-dom regime as one of several factors. Some economists have questioned the robustness of such claims, because the methodology relies partly on simple location data from websites such as LinkedIn. However, from Vokes's view on the ground, something big is definitely happening. While focus has been on foreign non-domiciles, native Britons with much to lose from tax changes are also adding to the exodus of the wealthy. 'There's definitely a feeling in the business community that the UK is much less friendly than it used to be,' she says. 'That is really centred on the changes to inheritance tax for business relief. The removal of that effectively with one year's notice has undermined lots of people's confidence in the UK.' Whereas business owners could previously mostly pass down their enterprises without worrying about inheritance tax, Reeves scaled back the generosity of this exemption at the autumn Budget from next year. At the same time, non-doms living in the UK for a decade also face paying inheritance tax on all of their assets around the world – an obligation that follows them for three to 10 years after they leave. Vokes said: 'The majority of my clients who have left were people who owned their own businesses. They were businesses that they wanted to keep running. 'They did not want to be subject to what would have been a very large 20pc inheritance tax charge on their deaths. The businesses are extremely valuable, but they just wouldn't be able to raise that kind of liquidity in a short period if they were to prematurely die. 'They were predominantly people in their 40s and 50s, still actively running their businesses. It wasn't that they couldn't afford to live in the UK any longer. It was that they couldn't afford to die in the UK.' Charlie Mullins, the founder of Pimlico Plumbers, became another high-profile exit after Labour took power, swapping London for Marbella in Spain. The Livingstone brothers, who are among Britain's richest real estate investors, worth a cool $9bn (£7bn) between them, are domiciled in Monaco, according to regulatory filings. Gnodde is moving to Milan. The big-money departures are being noticed by those who buy and sell property for Britain's wealthiest in the country's most expensive postcodes in central London. 'The mood music isn't good. There is no doubt, it's a very sober market out there,' says Roarie Scarisbrick, partner at Property Vision. House sales are down by 15pc from a year earlier among high-end properties, he says. Tax changes weigh heavily in jittery buyers' minds. 'It's in every conversation we have. Everybody's reading about it all the time. Everybody's talking about it. The changes that came in last year, together with the uncertain environment, which the new Trump era has ushered in, are the primary topic of conversations with our clients,' he says. This is echoed by Rosy Khalastchy, of luxury estate agents Beauchamp Estates, although she says there are some newcomers from countries such as China, the US and Nigeria. 'There's definitely an exodus from people in the UK. However, there are also incoming people. So we're losing quite a few of the wealthier residents, but we're gaining in their place other wealthy residents,' she says. However, the UK faces stiffer competition than in the past from warmer countries with friendly tax rules such as Italy and Greece, she warns. 'People are leaving on the basis that they can, whereas before they had to be in one place to work. They can work from anywhere now. We've got people saying they want to go because they're not happy with the taxation, the politics or other options that have opened up. They can have the same lifestyle but with a warmer climate, less taxation,' she says.
Hans India
24-04-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Aston Villa announce ground expansion to over 50,000 capacity
Birmingham: Aston Villa Football Club on Thursday announced plans to refurbish and expand seat capacity at Villa Park's iconic North Stand. "As the latest instalment of the North Ground regeneration plans, the North Stand expansion emphasises Villa's commitment to levelling up the fan experience whilst becoming a world-class sports and entertainment venue. The redevelopment will increase the number of seats available in the North Stand to over 12,000," the Premier League club said in a statement. "Combined with ongoing upgrades to Villa Park's other three stands, total capacity at Villa Park will increase to over 50,000. The stadium renovation will be completed in H2 (second half) 2027, ahead of the UEFA EURO 2028 Tournament that Villa Park will be a host venue for," it added. Championing a sustainable approach, Aston Villa FC will adapt and reuse the existing North Stand structure for the expansion. This innovative approach ensures that the capacity for Villa Park will not decrease at any time during construction, mitigating disruption to fans throughout the process. These changes, alongside other improvements to the North Grounds, are designed to deliver the best matchday experience for Aston Villa's fans and create a thriving community hub. "Aston Villa fans have been electrifying Villa Park for generations, charging the atmosphere with unrivalled intensity at every home match for more than 125 years," Chris Heck, Villa's president of business operations, said. "Thanks to the hard work and collaboration of an exceptional team, we will now be able to offer this incredible experience to thousands more, all while meeting the key challenge of executing this project without compromising matchday capacity during the process." Aston Villa's ambition continues to grow, with plans now confirmed to expand Villa Park's capacity to over 50,000 — a clear sign of the club's upward trajectory under manager Unai Emery. Previous proposals to demolish the North Stand were shelved, as the work would have temporarily reduced capacity to around 36,000. However, with Villa Park selected as a host venue for the Euro 2028 tournament - set to take place across the United Kingdom and Ireland - the club is now pushing forward with its stadium redevelopment plans. This move reflects the resurgence of Aston Villa under the ownership of executive chairman Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens. Emery, supported by football operations president Monchi, has revitalised the team, guiding them to a Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain, where they narrowly lost 5-4 on aggregate. The owners have continued to back Emery in the transfer market. The January window saw major moves, including the permanent signing of Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund and loan deals for Marcus Rashford from Manchester United and Marco Asensio from PSG - further highlighting the club's intent to compete at the highest level. As the club builds on last season's success, which saw them break through the Premier League's "glass ceiling" to secure Champions League qualification ahead of schedule, they remain in strong contention to qualify again this year. They also have an FA Cup semi-final clash against Crystal Palace at Wembley on Saturday, as their remarkable journey continues both on and off the pitch.
Associated Press
13-02-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Aston Villa Football Club Announces New Team Store in Birmingham's Iconic Bullring
BIRMINGHAM, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 13, 2025-- Aston Villa Football Club continues its rapid growth trajectory both on and off the pitch, further expanding its commercial footprint with the launch of a brand-new retail store in the heart of Birmingham's iconic Bullring shopping centre. The Aston Villa Bullring store is scheduled to open in May 2025. Spanning 10,000 square feet across a ground and mezzanine floor, the store will showcase Aston Villa's full retail offering, including home, away, and third kits, training wear, lifestyle collections, and exclusive limited-edition releases. Additionally, it will feature a significant adidas collection, spanning footwear and apparel across running, training, football, Originals, women's, and kids' ranges. The store's design takes inspiration from Aston Villa's rich 150-year history, incorporating cultural touchpoints from Villa Park while integrating a museum section that celebrates the club's deep-rooted connection to both Birmingham and football history. A nod to the iconic Holte End will be woven into the space, reflecting the passion and tradition of Villa's fanbase. Aston Villa is also introducing 'Aston Works,' an area dedicated to product personalisation, allowing fans to customise their purchases with bespoke designs. This initiative underscores the club's commitment to creating a truly immersive and interactive shopping experience. ' As Aston Villa continues to drive ambitious commercial growth, we are excited to announce this fantastic new store, in an iconic retail location,' said David Asquith, Vice President Retail at Aston Villa. 'Retail continues to play a pivotal role in the strategic vision for Aston Villa, reinforcing the club's ability to comply with stringent Premier League regulations while solidifying our stature as a World-class organisation capable of continually competing and winning at the highest level. The Bullring store represents a major step in that journey, offering fans and sports enthusiasts a dynamic shopping experience that seamlessly combines sport, lifestyle, and club heritage.' Conveniently situated in the Bullring—next door to Selfridges and alongside premium retailers such as Sephora—the store is set to become a must-visit destination for both supporters and general shoppers. Its prime location strengthens Aston Villa's presence in Birmingham city centre, reinforcing the club's ambition to position itself among the elite in both English and European football. As a proud employer committed to equality and diversity, Aston Villa will ensure the store upholds these values, creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for all staff and visitors. About Aston Villa Football Club Founded in 1874, Aston Villa Football Club is a founding member of the Football League and a leading institution in the English game. One of only five English clubs to have been crowned champions of Europe, the team has historically enjoyed exceptional success domestically, including seven First Division Championships, seven FA Cup titles, and five Football League Cups. A club of the future, AVFC is committed to innovating technologically, on and off the pitch, providing best in-class experience for fans and leading the football industry for best practice. United behind the club values of Pride, Passion and Purpose, Aston Villa Football Club continually thrives to push the boundaries of what a football club should be. Communications Director, AVFC KEYWORD: UNITED KINGDOM EUROPE SOURCE: Aston Villa Football Club Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 02/13/2025 09:41 AM/DISC: 02/13/2025 09:42 AM
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kendrick Lamar and SZA to Headline Next Concert in Villa Park Summer Lineup
Villa Park's third major concert of the summer marks a new era for the venue BIRMINGHAM, England, February 10, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aston Villa is thrilled to announce that global hip-hop and R&B superstars Kendrick Lamar and SZA will take the stage at Villa Park on July 10, 2025, as part of the Grand National Tour: Kendrick Lamar and SZA. Kendrick Lamar and SZA, both Grammy-winning artists, are longtime creative collaborators, most recently performing together at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show. The pair have defined a generation of music with their groundbreaking albums and era-defining hits. For the first time in history, Villa Park will host three major concerts in a single summer. Following the monumental announcement of Ozzy Osbourne's farewell concert, this latest addition to Villa Park's summer lineup reinforces Aston Villa's strategy to position the stadium as the premier live entertainment venue in the West Midlands and one of the UK's must-play destinations. Chris Heck, President of Business Operations at Aston Villa FC, said: "Hosting artists of Kendrick Lamar and SZA's global stature is a testament to Villa Park's emergence as a top-tier venue for live entertainment. Our goal is to make Villa Park an unmissable stop for the biggest acts in the world while ensuring these events help strengthen Aston Villa's ability to compete at the highest level of football. This is a new era for Villa Park, and we are just getting started." Kendrick Lamar, widely regarded as one of the most influential rappers of all time, and SZA, a trailblazer in contemporary R&B, are two of the most in-demand live performers on the planet: the pair have both headlined Glastonbury festival, as well as having headlined and sub-headlined Coachella respectively. Their joint performance at Villa Park promises to be a landmark event in the UK's 2025 live music calendar. By bringing a diverse lineup of internationally acclaimed musicians to Villa Park, Aston Villa is reshaping the live entertainment landscape in the Midlands. This new approach marks an evolution beyond the club's traditional focus, demonstrating a forward-thinking vision that ensures continued investment into the club's football operations while simultaneously elevating Villa Park as a top-tier entertainment destination. The concert will also spotlight the stadium's ongoing redevelopment, a project that includes the upcoming launch of The Warehouse, a state-of-the-art live events space designed to enhance the fan experience year-round. These strategic investments into music and entertainment by Aston Villa serve a greater purpose: driving new revenue streams that directly support the club's long-term football ambitions. TICKETS: Various pre-sales available Wednesday, 12th February through 13 February. General on sale starts Friday, 14th February at 9am local time on About Aston Villa Football Club Founded in 1874, Aston Villa Football Club is a founding member of the Football League and a leading institution in the English game. One of only five English clubs to have been crowned champions of Europe, the team has historically enjoyed exceptional success domestically, including seven First Division Championships, seven FA Cup titles, and five Football League Cups. A club of the future, AVFC is committed to innovating technologically, on and off the pitch, providing best in-class experience for fans and leading the football industry for best practice. United behind the club values of Pride, Passion and Purpose, Aston Villa Football Club continually thrives to push the boundaries of what a football club should be. View source version on Contacts Tommy JordanCommunications Director, AVFCEmail:
