An Offer You Cannot Refuse?

Picture: Pacemaker

Cross-border shopping in Northern Ireland can not only offer €/£ parity, but also cheaper prices on goods that are 18-20% dearer in the South, according to the Irish Times.(See article for more extreme examples)

Whilst Irish politicians' pleas to shoppers not to travel North are obviously falling on deaf ears, the real issue for retailers and suppliers is the growing demand for UK multiples and suppliers to reveal the profitability of their Irish operations in their annual reports.

Otherwise their claims that the price discrepancies are simply due to the higher costs of doing business in the Republic will be increasingly undermined.

Ultimately, a government under unprecedented domestic pressures could attempt to force disclosure via the tax route…..