Summer Economic Update – a couple of key points
Tuesday, 14 July 2020
Another raft of incentives and give-aways to support the economy at a critical juncture as we emerge from lock-down and anticipate the ending of the job retention scheme.
Measures include - Job retention bonus, VAT reduction for hospitality, stamp duty holiday and support for young people to find work. I will focus on just two of these.
5 tips for leading your company out of a crisis
Tuesday, 30 June 2020
This is an article recently prepared by our partners at Xeinadin Group
Getting out of a crisis is difficult and requires extraordinary measures and great efforts from a company and its people. Since we’re here to help, we’ve listed 5 tips for leading your company out of a crisis or turnaround situation. Read on and make smart use of these tips.
Cocooning a business
Tuesday, 05 May 2020
This is an article recently prepared by our partners at Xeinadin Group
The purpose of this guidance is to give an overview of what, why and how a business might be cocooned (or mothballed) in response to the change in trading environment arising from Covid-19.
Government support for Covid-19 – update
Wednesday, 25 March 2020
This current situation is now quite unprecedented. The government has updated the measures introduced to help businesses through these difficult times.
Government support for business – a developing situation
Wednesday, 18 March 2020
Normally I would be writing and commenting about last week's budget, but that has been superseded by the extraordinary events of the last few days.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.
Keeping The Entrepreneurial Spirit Alive
Tuesday, 10 March 2020
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.
New IR35 Rules for Contractors from April 2020
Thursday, 13 February 2020
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.
Implementation Is Key To Building Any Business
Tuesday, 10 December 2019
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.
How to improve your buying process and increase sales
Wednesday, 06 November 2019
“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.
Why Business Planning is Important to Help You Reach Your Goals
Wednesday, 23 October 2019
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.