Blog

Autumn Statement Predictions

Posted 25th September 2023 at 2:30 pm

autumn statement

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, has confirmed that the Autumn Statement will take place on 22nd November 2023. The Autumn Statement can affect tax policy, benefits, and much more. The Chancellor will make his announcement to Parliament, setting out the Government’s plans on all matters fiscal and economic. Interestingly, this could be the Chancellor’s last statement before the next General Election, depending on the time frame that the government chooses.   Included in the announcement was the news that ‘The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) have been commissioned to prepare an economic and fiscal forecast to be presented... Read more

Improving your credit score

Posted 19th September 2023 at 11:40 am

credit score

Credit scoring is a widely used way to assess the risk of lending money to people. However, no-one has a single credit score. As well as scores produced by the main credit reference agencies, many lenders also calculate their own credit scores in house. This means you will have multiple credit scores. Each company may consider different information when working out your score and use a different formula. For example, your credit report held by each of the main credit reference agencies may contain different information. Firms also differ in how many points are awarded for each piece of relevant... Read more

Going digital – the need for speed

Posted 13th September 2023 at 10:04 am

The trend towards paperless office solutions is rapidly increasing, whether it is to improve business efficiency or realise environmental goals. Our most profitable clients have already streamlined their internal procedures and are getting the most out of their teams by going paperless, in a variety of areas. This blog highlights some ways you can become paperless in your business and the benefits that this can bring.   Cloud-based data storage Customer information, contracts, and sensitive employee information are held by most businesses and, if on paper, the risk of data loss is much greater than an online secure portal. Using... Read more

Threads: How could the latest social media platform work for businesses?

Posted 29th August 2023 at 4:07 pm

threads

Threads is a new social media channel created by Meta Platforms (formerly known as Facebook) which was launched in July this year. Threads went live on both the Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries and signed up more than 100 million users in its first week. Threads is linked with Instagram (which is also owned by Meta Platforms) and was developed by the same team. Threads is generally seen as an alternative to Twitter and has launched at a time when Twitter has been going through a rough patch due to various changes being made since it was... Read more

HMRC Annual Report

Posted 22nd August 2023 at 2:50 pm

HMRC’s annual report was published last month, and it shows that they failed to meet many of their key customer services measures in 2022-23. Customer satisfaction dropped to 79% from 82% last year and telephone performance has also declined with an average wait of 16 minutes to get through to an adviser. 63% of callers waited more than 10 minutes, with an average wait-time of over 20 minutes in January to March 2023. To their credit, HMRC have improved their correspondence reply time to 73% cleared within 15 days from 46% in 2021-22.HMRC thinks the solution lies in the use... Read more

Dealing with Inflation

Posted 15th August 2023 at 12:49 pm

With continuing inflation in the UK, many of us and our businesses have been put “off track” in the short to medium term. The Bank of England recently increased interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.25 per cent. The rise was as expected by economists in view of the latest data showing annual inflation at 7.9 per cent in June which is four times higher than the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target. Inflation is a problem for most of us. Savers find that the value of their cash is being rapidly eroded. At 10%... Read more

R&D Tax Reliefs Reforms: What you need to know

Posted 8th August 2023 at 9:03 am

R&D

Over the last 12 months the R&D industry has gone through a significant transformation in an attempt to reduce the level of non-compliance in the R&D Tax Reliefs. The SME scheme has, by many, been seen as a lucrative industry which allows claimant companies to recoup costs for the previous two accounting periods; this has led to concerns over abuse and boundary-pushing involving R&D tax reliefs growing in recent years, particularly amongst SMEs. While any scheme that provides financial support to large numbers of claimants contains an inherent risk, the Government launched a review of the R&D tax relief schemes... Read more

Announcing the launch of Payroll Junction!

Posted 1st August 2023 at 8:27 am

Payroll Junction

E R Grove and Co are proud to announce the official launch of our latest venture, Payroll Junction, on 13th July 2023.   Payroll Junction has been conceived as a response to the growing demand for streamlined and efficient payroll management. With E R Grove and Co’s decades of experience in accountancy and payroll management, the new platform bridges the gap between traditional payroll processes and modern advancements, enabling businesses to effortlessly manage their payroll responsibilities with unmatched precision and reliability. Payroll Junction harnesses the power of the latest technologies to streamline processes and reduce manual intervention, whilst incorporating robust... Read more

Two new Business Information Hubs launched by the government

Posted 24th July 2023 at 9:50 am

hub

Director Information Hub The Insolvency Service has launched a new online information hub to support company directors. The hub hosts guidance and information on a range of business themes commonly faced by companies and aims to help company directors to push their business forward by being more aware of potential pitfalls. It is specifically designed for directors of micro, small, and medium-size limited companies, although it will also be useful to others. Examples of the kind of advice available on the information hub include: understanding company finances, director duties and obligations; how to recognise early warning signs of financial distress; and... Read more

Why Customer Service matters

Posted 18th July 2023 at 3:50 pm

customer service

According to the Institute of Customer Service’s (ICS) most recent UK Customer Satisfaction Index more companies have declined in service than improved. In 2021 and 2022, customer satisfaction with complaint handling showed a steady improvement but this has now stalled and other areas of customer satisfaction that are predictive of business performance, such as measures of a company’s emotional connection with its customers, their customer ethos, and ethics, have also declined. ICS chief executive Joanna Causon comments, ”We are seeing a greater polarisation in customer satisfaction performance, with some companies pulling away from the pack and others alas falling considerably... Read more