Blog
Keeping in touch with Remote Workers
Posted 24th August 2020 at 1:41 pm
Given the threat of Covid-19 still lurking in the background, businesses may be looking at continuing with remote working well into the Autumn, if not into the New Year. The pandemic was upon us so quickly that a lot of companies’ remote working processes were set up ad hoc, but with the ongoing situation you might be looking for a more permanent solution for keeping in touch with remote workers. In this blog we look at five of the top apps for keeping in touch. Slack The advantage of this app is that it is a one-stop-shop for messaging,... Read more
Single-use plastic: A Covid conundrum
Posted 17th August 2020 at 4:21 pm
Prior to the pandemic, countries around the world were making strides in eliminating plastic waste, primarily by discouraging single-use plastics. Government initiatives such as the plastic bag charge, and plastic straw ban, were complemented by organisational initiatives such as certain coffee chains offering a discount for customers who brought reusable cups, or supermarkets redesigning their packaging to use less plastic. All this was helping to protect the planet from the harm of plastic waste. However, along came Covid-19, and suddenly the idea of ‘reusable’ plastics and their alternatives became, well, a bit icky! Even now that you can go... Read more
Facilitating Disability in the Workplace
Posted 12th August 2020 at 8:42 am
Most businesses would acknowledge the value in having a diverse team of employees, as well as a wide-ranging client base. However, when it comes to employing or interacting with someone with disabilities, often this is seen as a problem to be solved, or in extreme cases a problem that can’t be solved. This attitude comes from the long-held view of disability as an individual deficit. Under what is now known as the ‘medical model’ of disability, the focus is on what a person can’t do, or what is ‘wrong’ with them. This may seem logical, but when we think... Read more
Sleep your way to success
Posted 5th August 2020 at 8:19 am
Business leaders are often prone to insomnia, with all those ideas buzzing around in their heads all the time! But in order to stay productive and healthy, the NHS recommends that you get between 6 and 9 hours sleep every night. If you suffer from insomnia, or just want to supercharge your sleep routine, here are some tips! Keep regular sleeping hours Going to sleep at the same time every night will programme your body clock to get used to a set routine. This will make it more likely that you will fall asleep quicker each night, rather than... Read more
UK Economy – Post Pandemic Predictions
Posted 29th July 2020 at 8:37 am
With lockdown lifting, the government’s focus is now fully on repairing the damage from the Covid-19 pandemic to our economy. In this blog we look at three possible five-year economic scenarios outlined by the treasury. Best-case scenario Under this scenario, economic activity will rebound quickly, with GDP falling by 10.6% this year, but then returning to its pre-pandemic peak by the end of March 2021. Unemployment will reach a peak of 10% during this next quarter, and as many as 1.9 million people would be out of work next year. The government’s budget deficit will be 13% of GDP... Read more
School’s Out! What now for working parents?
Posted 21st July 2020 at 11:35 am
Normally at this time of year, working parents are heaving a sigh of relief about not having to juggle school runs with early morning meetings, and class assemblies with weekly team briefings! However, thanks to our good friend Covid-19, the arrival of the summer holidays is just another source of stress for many families. Parents were able to adapt to working at home whilst looking after their children to a large extent because they were kept amused by the work being set for them by school to complete at home. Some secondary schools have provided full, online timetables, allowing... Read more
HMRC Enquiries – Could you be next?
Posted 14th July 2020 at 8:34 am
HMRC compliance activity in 2018/19 yielded £34.1bn, a whopping 12.5% increase on 2017/18. You may think that you’re not at risk from a tax enquiry as you’ve done nothing wrong or are too small for HMRC to worry about. In fact, any individual or business of any size can be selected at random for an investigation. HMRC continue to expand their data sources, and have access to data from merchant acquirers, banks and building societies, property-based information, land registry, letting agents, mortgage applications, DVLA, foreign data from overseas tax authorities, not to mention the tax evasion hotline which anybody... Read more
Essential Skills for the Workforce of the Future
Posted 7th July 2020 at 10:44 am
As the DfE set out its plans for welcoming all children back to schools in September this week, there was concern amongst the education community at their plan to ‘suspend’ non-core subjects for two terms so that pupils could ‘catch-up’ on English and Maths. Perhaps because of the furious backlash that this leaked announcement caused, the government quickly rowed back on this plan and confirmed that the full curriculum is still to be taught, albeit with the ‘non-core’ subjects being adapted to include more English and Maths content. This got us to thinking, what are the key skills that our... Read more
Specialist Tax: Capitalise on your assets
Posted 29th June 2020 at 11:44 am
Over half of UK businesses will not have claimed their entitlement to Capital Allowances which could be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. In this second of a series of specialist tax scheme blogs, we look at how you can claim capital allowances. When can you claim capital allowances? You can claim capital allowances when you buy assets that you keep to use in your business. In most cases you can deduct the full cost of these items from your profits before tax using annual investment allowance (AIA). If you sell the item after claiming AIA you may need... Read more
Specialist Tax: Rewarding innovation in science and technology
Posted 13th June 2020 at 11:57 am
It’s fair to say that the last few months haven’t exactly been great for business, and most of our finances could do with a bit of a boost! It’s possible that individuals and businesses are missing out on claiming tax benefits for specialist tax areas, just because they are little known or not well understood. In this first of a series of blogs, we look at some of the different types of specialist tax schemes that your business might be eligible for. Research & Development (R&D and RDEC) Companies carrying out qualifying R&D activities can claim significant corporation tax... Read more