Buzzfeed UK’s business editor, Simon Neville reports that the embattled restaurant chain Byron Burger, which recently reported dozens of illegal workers it employed to the Home Office, has been taking expensive loans from overseas subsidiaries to reduce its tax bill in the UK.
Our Business Risk Adviser, Nick Hood commented:
“This is yet another classic private equity ownership structure, which maximises shareholder gains and by diverting heavy interest liabilities offshore, creates doubts about its willingness to pay UK tax despite earning substantial profits here.
“No doubt it is all perfectly legal, but this does nothing to enhance the reputation of the business world.”