Hugh Davies News

This current situation is now quite unprecedented. The government has updated the measures introduced to help businesses through these difficult times.

Normally I would be writing and commenting about last week's budget, but that has been superseded by the extraordinary events of the last few days.

The advice to the population not to go out to pubs, restaurants, theatres etc is not only going to have a short-term catastrophic effect on those industries, but the shock-waves will undoubtedly spread to many other parts of the economy. People running businesses are understandably worried about what this might mean for them, and whether they will survive.

Summer is in full swing. The sun’s shining and as most people look forward to their holidays (or you may have had yours already?) it gives us all a time to reflect on our businesses and the progress we’re making!

As you know, we work with dozens of business owners. Many of them are what I would call ‘Entrepreneurs’ (with a capital ‘E’). Some are ‘Serial’ entrepreneurs, but they all have one thing in common—they are building something. Hopefully, something special. Something that defines their knowledge, expertise, hard work (blood, sweat and tears!) and commitment.

Are you a contractor or do you engage contractors in your business? If ‘yes’ then this could apply to you.

As you are aware, currently contractors pay their own income tax and NICs, outside of the PAYE system, unless they operate through their own personal service company and their contracts fall within the IR35 legislation. The onus being on the contractor to determine whether the IR35 rules apply and pay any tax and NIC accordingly.

 

How close are you to reaching your targets for this year?

We work with dozens and dozens of business owners, each with varying degrees of success, but I can tell you for certain, the most successful businesses and business owners we work with have clearly defined goals, objectives and targets. They also monitor progress EVERY month—at our insistence.

This is something we’ve learned along the way. Most business owners that do set goals and targets are often poor in following through. It’s my belief the key reason for this and a lack of achievement, is very little monitoring and measuring.

“Why Are You Making It So Hard?”

One of the things we like to explore with clients is an area of their business that rarely gets much attention—but IS ALWAYS CLOSELY SCRUTINISED BY CUSTOMERS — and that’s the buying process. In other words… how can you make it EASIER for customers to buy from you?

In their excellent book “WAYMISH: Why Are You Making It So Hard For Me To Give You My Money?” authors Ray Considine and Ted Cohn identify several areas where businesses actually make it more difficult than easy to deal with them. And like virtually everything else we recommend to clients and other business owners, it’s very easy to put this right.

On a mild and sunny autumn day the team at Hugh Davies & Co set off on a journey through the streets of Salisbury to the magnificence that is Salisbury Cathedral.

The goal set for the day was to climb the 332 steps to the foot of the iconic spire, the tallest in the UK.

With varying degrees of vertigo, the excited, somewhat nervous but never hesitant team of intrepid accountants went through the ancient doors to begin the adventure.

We recently announced that from 1 June 2019 Hugh Davies & Co became a founder member of a new network of independent and individually managed accounting firms across the United Kingdom and Ireland. Around 120 independent accountancy firms joined the network, called Xeinadin.

In order to achieve commonality across member firms we all started trading in newly formed companies. Apart from our change of legal entity and bank account, everything else remains exactly the same and we look forward to continue to work with you exactly in the same way as we have always done.

I am delighted to say that on 31 May 2019 we merged with Shirley Hollis & Co. Shirley has over 30 years’ experience in accountancy practice having previously been a partner in Wilkins Kennedy in Winchester.

She set up her own practice in Durrington several years ago before opening an office in Amesbury. She has now joined us in our office and brings with her the clients that she has built up over recent years. We welcome both Shirley and her clients to the Hugh Davies & Co community.

Lifetime ISAs were introduced a couple of years ago. These are a savings alternative (like an ISA) for young people which can be used either for the first-time purchase of a house or can be accessed tax-free at age 60.

Why do I think these are great? Well you can put up to £4,000 a year into a LISA and the government will add a 25% bonus on top. That is a pretty good return on anyone’s money.