Blog
Thinking of buying another business?
Posted 11th April 2024 at 4:47 pm
When in business, it’s not uncommon to be approached by another business with a view to you buying the business or entering a partnership deal. It might be a competitor that approaches you, or it could be a customer or supplier. Alternatively, you might identify a business that you would like to acquire as part of your own growth plans. What things should you consider before entering a deal to buy another business? In this blog we will look at some of the key considerations. Financial assessment What is the financial health of the business you are looking to... Read more
Stress Awareness Month
Posted 9th April 2024 at 10:02 am
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), via their Working Minds campaign, has declared April Stress Awareness Month. Work-related stress is an important consideration for businesses since all employers have a legal duty to prevent work related stress to support good mental health in the workplace. Clearly it is beneficial for employees when businesses make efforts to manage and reduce work-related stress, but employers can benefit too. A reduction in work-related stress amongst the workforce means the employer is less likely to come across issues such as reduced productivity, repeated sickness absence, and poor staff retention. Clearly it is beneficial... Read more
Salary sacrifice: a win-win strategy
Posted 24th March 2024 at 4:43 pm
Business and employees are both constantly looking for ways to optimise their financial strategies. One often overlooked strategy in doing this is salary sacrifice. Salary sacrifice involves an agreement between an employee and their employer to reduce the employee’s salary in exchange for certain non-cash benefits. While it may seem counterintuitive at first glance, salary sacrifice can be a useful tool for saving taxes for both parties involved. Benefits for the business For a business, implementing salary sacrifice schemes can lead to good tax savings. For instance, offering non-cash benefits such as pension contributions or cycle-to-work schemes in exchange... Read more
Furnished Holiday Lettings regime to be abolished
Posted 17th March 2024 at 4:38 pm
If you run a holiday let, then you are probably well aware of the useful tax advantages that holiday lets have had for many years. Because furnished holiday lets can be treated as a trade rather than as a rental property, there are more generous deductions against income available. Also, there has been a significant advantage in property capital gains tax when selling a furnished holiday let. During the Spring Budget, the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that the Furnished Holiday Lettings regime is to be abolished with effect from 6 April 2025. This means that your holiday let profits will... Read more
What the National Insurance cuts mean for businesses
Posted 11th March 2024 at 2:24 pm
The Spring Budget further extended the national insurance cuts first announced in last year’s Autumn Statement. In this blog we outline what this means for different types of businesses. What the NI cuts mean for employers In last year’s autumn statement, employee’s national insurance was cut by 2 percentage points from 12% to 10%. This change went into effect on 6 January 2024. The Spring Budget extended this further by reducing the employee national insurance contribution by a further 2 percentage points, bringing the rate down to 8% from 6 April 2024. If you were planning to pay staff... Read more
The twin-cab pickup makes a U-turn
Posted 6th March 2024 at 11:42 am
In an announcement made on 19 February, the government made a surprising U-turn and confirmed that twin-cab pickup vehicles with payloads of 1 tonne or more will continue to be treated as goods vehicles for both capital allowances and benefit-in-kind purposes. On 12 February, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) had updated its guidance on the tax treatment of twin-cab pickups following a 2020 Court of Appeal judgment. The guidance had confirmed that, from 1 July 2024, twin-cab pickups with a payload of one tonne or more would be treated as cars rather than goods vehicles for both capital allowances and... Read more
Improving customer satisfaction
Posted 26th February 2024 at 4:21 pm
The Institute of Customer Service published its latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) figures for January 2024. The Index has fallen by 1.7 points since last January to 76.0 (out of 100). Each of the 13 UKCSI sectors showed lower customer satisfaction than a year ago, with Utilities, Transport, Insurance and Service declining by more than 2 points. The highest rated organisations are Ocado (85.7), first direct (85.3) and John Lewis (85.1). Looking at an index update like this can provide a good opportunity to reflect on the customer satisfaction of your own customers. Good customer service is characterised by... Read more
Navigating Recession: key considerations for your business
Posted 21st February 2024 at 9:06 am
The Office of National Statistics released official figures last week showing the UK is now officially in recession. Gross domestic product (GDP) for the October to December 2023 quarter dropped by 0.3%. This followed a fall in the July to September 2023 quarter of 0.1%. A fall in GDP in two or more consecutive quarters constitutes a recession. Experts will generally assess the health of an economy on a number of factors, rather than solely look at the headline GDP rates. However, the “recession” word quickly takes hold in news headlines and brings apprehension and uncertainty with it. While it... Read more
Cookie compliance – don’t get caught out!
Posted 13th February 2024 at 3:34 pm
Whether you started a diet in January or are giving up sweet treats for Lent, at this time of year many of us are focusing on maintaining healthy habits. At the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) however the focus is on an entirely different type of cookie… The ICO is intensifying its efforts to ensure compliance with data protection laws regarding advertising cookies, targeting some of the UK’s top websites. In November, the ICO sent letters to 53 of the country’s top 100 websites, cautioning them about potential enforcement action if changes were not made to align with data protection regulations.... Read more
Improve your cash flow
Posted 6th February 2024 at 1:58 pm
A new report from business rescue and recovery specialists Begbies Traynor estimates that more than 47,000 businesses in the UK are near collapse because of being in critical financial distress. This is a startling increase of 25.9% from the previous quarter, with particular concern raised for the construction and real estate sectors. Whilst we can hope that falling inflation and interest rates will give a boost to these businesses over the coming months, this news might encourage all businesses to turn their attention to optimising their cash flow, which is an essential component of sustained growth and success. In particular,... Read more