Wolseley moves to Switzerland to cut tax bill

Building supplier estimates moving will save more than £20m a year but says tax position of UK business will remain unchanged

Wolseley, the world's largest plumbing, heating and building materials supplier, is to relocate to Switzerland in an attempt to cut its tax bill.

The FTSE 100-listed company, which generates 81% of its business overseas, said it would create a new holding company called New Wolseley incorporated in Jersey with its tax residence in Switzerland, which would enable it to "achieve a competitive" corporate tax rate.

Wolseley said the move would reduce the group's underlying tax rate to 28% and that being resident in Switzerland would have saved the company £23m this year.

The group, which trades as Build Center and Plumb Center, said that the tax position of the UK business would remain unchanged.

A number of British companies, including advertising group WPP, drugmaker Shire and the publisher Informa have gone into tax exile in recent years. Chemicals group Ineos, Britain's biggest private company, announced in April that it was moving its headquarters to Switzerland in the hope of saving £100m a year in tax.

The news came as Wolseley reported a 9% rise in revenues to £13.2bn and flat trading profits of £450m in the year to 31 July. While it remains cautious about the outlook for its markets, it intends to resume dividend payments at the 2011 half-year results.

The company's chairman John Whybrow is to retire at the firm's next annual meeting and will be succeeded by senior independent non-executive director Gareth Davis, the former chief executive of Imperial Tobacco, who is also chairman of William Hill.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/sep/27/wolseley-moves-to-switzerland-for-tax

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