Business
All Amazon Fresh grocery stores in UK set to close
Amazon plans to close all 19 of its grocery shops across the UK, putting as many as 250 jobs at risk.
The firm will look to convert up to five of the Amazon Fresh shops, noted for their walk-in walk-out style with no checkouts, into Whole Foods stores.
Amazon said the move is part of a wider overhaul of its UK grocery operations, which will shift focus more towards its online business. Its bosses have said that the firm is still “deeply invested” in the UK.
The US-based company said on Tuesday that it had launched a consultation process proposing the closure of the Amazon Fresh UK stores.
It is consulting with employees at the sites, which employ around 250 staff. However, it said not all employees are set to be affected by the closures, and it plans to offer those who are new roles in other parts of the business.
Recently, the company pledged to invest £40bn in Britain across the next three years.
The Fresh brand was first launched in 2021, opening its first till-less store in Ealing, with technology that allowed customers to walk out with their shopping without having to use a checkout. Shoppers used an app to enter the store and were then billed to the platform when they left, with a range of cameras and other technology used to work out which products they purchased.
However, the group slowed down significant growth ambitions for the business as shopper demand waned at the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
As part of the proposals, five shops could transition to Amazon’s Whole Foods Market brand, which focuses on organic produce. It said the conversion plan, along with two further new sites, is expected to grow the Whole Foods business to 12 stores by the end of next year.
On Tuesday, Amazon also said it plans to double the number of Prime subscription members with access to at least three of the retailer’s grocery options, through its partners Morrisons, Iceland, Co-op and Gopuff.
It also said it will introduce fresh groceries including dairy, meat and seafood to its website from next year.
John Boumphrey, country manager for Amazon UK, said: “Since 2008, we’ve worked hard to innovate to help our customers save time and money when shopping for groceries and household essentials.
“We continue to invent and invest to bring more choice and convenience to UK customers, enabling them to shop for a wide range of everyday essentials and groceries with low prices and fast delivery through Amazon.co.uk, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods Market stores, alongside our third-party grocery partners, including Morrisons, Co-op, Iceland, and Gopuff.”
Amazon is estimated to employ more than 75,000 people in the UK, the majority across its warehouse and delivery operations.
In future up to 2,000 new jobs could be created at new warehouses in Hull and Northampton.
It has been reported that Amazon Fresh contributed $5bn (£3.7bn) in revenues during one quarter in 2024, but this is across all grocery sales online and in physical stores, as well as being global rather than just UK-focused.
Amazon paid £1bn in UK taxes on revenues of over £29bn last year.
Last week, Amazon announced it would offer employees a pay rise above inflation levels, increasing its minimum wage to £14.30 an hour.
Business
Chip relief: China allows exports of Nexperia chips for civilian use; move to ease global auto supply strain – The Times of India
China has granted exemptions to export controls on Nexperia chips for civilian applications, its commerce ministry said on Sunday, signalling a potential easing of pressure on the global auto industry hit by supply shortages following earlier curbs, Reuters reported.The announcement marks Beijing’s strongest indication yet that it will relax restrictions imposed after the Dutch government took control of Nexperia, a key supplier of basic chips used in automotive electrical systems.Nexperia, based in the Netherlands but owned by China’s Wingtech Technology, had been at the centre of a trade standoff that disrupted global chip supplies. The Chinese ministry did not define what constitutes “civilian use,” but the move comes after German and Japanese companies said deliveries of Nexperia’s China-made chips had resumed.Despite the exemptions, China–Netherlands relations, and by extension ties with the European Union, are expected to remain strained until the dispute over Nexperia’s ownership and operations is resolved.The Dutch government seized control of the company on September 30, citing concerns that Wingtech’s plans to shift production to China posed a threat to European economic security.In response, China halted exports of Nexperia’s finished chips, which are primarily packaged in China, but last week said it would start accepting applications for export exemptions following a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 30.China’s commerce ministry reiterated that it aims to protect global chip supply chains, while accusing the Netherlands of failing to act to resolve the standoff.In its statement Sunday, the ministry urged the European Union to “intensify efforts” to persuade the Netherlands to reverse its decision.“China welcomes the EU to continue leveraging its influence to urge the Netherlands to promptly rectify its erroneous actions,” the ministry said.
Eimear DevlinBBC Money Box reporter
Eve CravenThe UK’s tax body is reviewing its decisions to strip child benefit from about 23,500 claimants after it used travel data to conclude they had left the country permanently.
Normally the benefit runs out after eight weeks living outside the UK, but many people affected complained that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) had stopped their money after they went on holiday for just a short time.
The move came after MPs on the Treasury Select Committee demanded answers from the tax authority.
HMRC has apologised for any errors and says anyone who thinks their benefits have been stopped incorrectly should contact them.
In September, the government began a crackdown on child benefit fraud which it believes could save £350m over five years.
The new system allows HMRC records to be compared with Home Office international travel data, and the tax authority had used this data to stop payments to thousands of families.
But it is now reviewing all of the cases following a growing number of complaints from people affected who said they had been on holiday, and had returned to the UK after a short time.
Eve Craven went on a five-day break with her son to New York. She told the BBC’s Money Box programme that about 18 months after the trip she received a letter saying the child benefit for her son had been stopped.
The letter cited her trip to the US, saying it had no record of her return.
“It gave me a month basically to give them all the requested information to prove that I’d come back to the UK,” she said.
“It’s just a very big ask for something that they’ve messed up on, and they should have been able to sort out themselves.”
Eve’s child benefit has now been reinstated with missing payments backdated.
The issue was first identified in Northern Ireland, where some families had flown out of the UK from Belfast, but then returned to Dublin – which is in the EU – before driving home over the border.
UK and Irish citizens can travel freely into each other’s countries under the Common Travel Area arrangement.
There are no routine passport checks when travelling through the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, meaning the UK government has no data to show that someone may have returned to Northern Ireland.
It is not clear how many errors have been made in total, or how.
HMRC told Money Box it would be reviewing all past cases “using PAYE data and where continued UK employment is found, will be reinstating payments and making any back payments necessary”.
It is aiming to complete its review by the end of next week.
MPs on the Treasury Select Committee are also now investigating.
Additional reporting by Nick Edser
Last Updated:
Mumbai ITAT rules compensation for flat delivery delays is not taxable under Section 50C. Experts say this offers relief to taxpayers facing project delays.
Section 50C Can’t Apply Without Actual Property Transfer, Rules Mumbai ITAT
In a significant ruling, the Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has held that compensation received for delay in construction or delivery of a flat cannot be taxed under Section 50C of the Income Tax Act. The tribunal clarified that such compensation is distinct from sale consideration and does not attract stamp valuation provisions.
The tribunal also emphasised that the delay compensation is essentially a form of interest paid by the builder for the inconvenience caused to the homebuyer due to delayed possession. As such, it is taxable under ‘Income from Other Sources’, in line with provisions applicable to interest income, and is subject to tax at the individual’s slab rate.
Commenting on the ruling, Anita Basrur, Partner at Sudit K. Parekh & Co. LLP, said the decision “clearly brings out that sale consideration and compensation are different.” She explained that Section 50C applies only when the sale consideration for a transfer of immovable property is lower than the stamp duty value. “In this case, the transfer involved a flat received in exchange for land, and the additional compensation was purely compensatory — not a sale consideration,” Basrur noted.
She added that the judgment offers timely relief for taxpayers amid rising cases of project delays and associated compensation payments. “With delays in projects and compensation becoming common, this decision will give the desired relief to purchasers and help settle several pending disputes,” she said.
CA Akshay Jain, Direct Tax Partner at NPV & Associates LLP, echoed similar views, clarifying the tax treatment of such payments. “Since there is no transfer of any capital asset at the time of receiving compensation for delayed possession, it cannot be taxed under capital gains,” he said. Jain added that such payments are “taxable under the head ‘income from other sources’,” not as capital receipts.
On the applicability of Section 50C to extinguishment of development rights, Jain explained that the section requires an actual transfer of land or building. “In case of extinguishment of development rights, there is no transfer of immovable property, so Section 50C cannot be invoked,” he said, citing the Mumbai ITAT’s ruling in Suvarna Chandrakant Bhojane vs ITO that supported this interpretation.
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst…Read More
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst… Read More
November 09, 2025, 16:43 IST
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