Blog
Reducing staff sickness absence
Posted 20th October 2023 at 1:39 pm
A new survey from Acas has found that one in four employers have seen an increase in staff being off sick compared to a year ago. Acas commissioned YouGov to ask employers at the end of August if they had seen any changes to the number of employees being off sick compared to 12 months ago. The poll found that: 26% of employers had seen an increase in sickness absence; Almost 1 in ten (9%) had seen a decrease; Over half (59%) said that the number of staff being off sick had roughly stayed the same; and 6% didn’t know... Read more
The biggest tax-raising parliament since records began
Posted 16th October 2023 at 9:19 am
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has stated that this has been the biggest tax-raising parliament since records began, pushing UK tax revenues to historically high levels. They comment “At the time of the last general election, UK tax revenues amounted to around 33% of national income. By the time of the next election in 2024, on current forecasts, taxes will amount to around 37% of national income – a level not sustained in the post-war period.” Compared with a world in which taxes had stayed at 33% of national income, the UK government will be raising upwards of £100... Read more
Millions heading for Retirement without a financial plan
Posted 10th October 2023 at 3:47 pm
Millions of over-55s in the UK are at risk of encountering financial difficulties in their retirement, new research has revealed. One of the UK’s leading at-retirement advisers commissioned an independent survey of 2,000 UK adults, finding that less than half (46%) of respondents currently have a financial plan in place for their retirement – with this figure only rising to 47% for those aged 55 and above. When it comes to retirement savings, just 51% of UK adults know how much is in their pensions – again, there is only a slight increase (to 56%) among those aged 55 and... Read more
Self-assessment deadline approaching
Posted 2nd October 2023 at 2:20 pm
The deadline for filing the 2022/23 self-assessment return online is 31 January 2024*. While this deadline may seem ages away, it’s important not to let your tax return slip your mind. HMRC will not forgive you for a late filing. Even if your return is only one day late and/or there is no tax to pay, they will still charge you a penalty. You can avoid a fine by submitting your return well before the deadline, which means that now is a great time to be preparing all your information to send across to your accountant well in advance of... Read more
Autumn Statement Predictions
Posted 25th September 2023 at 2:30 pm
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 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 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