Introduction IR35 was introduced in April 2000 as the Intermediaries Legislation to tackle the problem the HMRC had with what they term “disguised employee”. What is a “Disguised Employee”? A “Disguised Employee” is an employee who works as a self-employed contractor using a limited company to reduce their tax liability. The contractor operates under the same terms as a permanent employee. The objective of IR35 is to determine whether a contractor is correctly working as self-employed or should be a permanent employee. The reason for this is because HMRC have seen the fall in PAYE and National Insurance contributions be people who have arranged their affairs to minimise tax. The Artic Systems Case The case of Jones v Garnett finally reached its end on 25 July, when the House of Lords gave a judgement unanimously in favour of the taxpayers. This marathon of a case concerned Mr and Mrs Jones, who owned one each of the two shares in Arctic Systems Ltd, their family company. Mr Jones … [Read more...]
The Hybrid Workplace – by default or design
The government roadmap lifting lockdown suggests that in England the 17th May will be the date on which businesses can safely re-open. This gives Managing Directors and business leaders less than 2.5 months to take the initiative and start consulting with their staff on proposals for returning to work. The likelihood is that MDs are going to be faced with a hybrid workplace with the offer of being able to work flexibly and informally a number of days a week at home, without any contractual changes. Secondly, it is an opportunity to reinforce the positive working patterns developed since the Covid-19 pandemic forced the first national lockdown – and learn from any negative habits that have emerged. Cranfield Business School has researched the trust-control dynamic. In response to losing control, managers have aggressively dialled up Key Performance Indicators and the monitoring thereof and been less focused on building trust through genuinely checking on welfare and coaching their … [Read more...]
UK Business Advisors support provided to clients during Covid-19 – 01
Our UKBA teams regularly meet by Zoom video call. Today, our London and South East team reviewed the support given to companies in the last couple of weeks, and we would like to share this with you. You are also encouraged to visit our general support page at https://ukba.co.uk/coronavirus Here are examples of how we have helped companies and added value to them: Apply for Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan applications (40% approved and 60% pending to date) Plan for Furloughing, restructuring and assisting Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme applications from 20.1.20 Prepare business strategy, business planning and financial planning Assisting construction companies preparing to resume operations and resolve supply chain issues Applying for an Innovate UK funding competition Helping companies to claim R&D Tax Credits and get cash injections Completing the recruitment of a marketing manager and working with clients to plan their needs … [Read more...]
Urgent business support during Coronavirus/ COVID-19 Emergency. Nationwide network of Business Advisors available to support you
Businesses and individuals are facing unprecedented challenges and uncertain times due to the COVID-19 emergency. Our support page link is at the end of this newsflash. Like you, we are feeling the impact to our work, families and friends. UK Business Advisors (UKBA) have contingency plans in place and are we already remote working and communicating via phone and video calls to support our clients. As premier advisors to UK Small and Medium sized businesses, we are ready to play our part to help our clients and the wider business community during these difficult times. We remain confident that businesses that show decisive leadership can survive and bounce back. UK Business Advisors have activated our nationwide network of experienced advisors to help business owners and directors plan what is needed. Even with government grants, business rates relief or emergency loan support there will be difficult decisions to be made quickly. We can provide initial support and share our … [Read more...]
Important employment law changes coming in April 2020
As the New Year dawns, some changes to the detail of your employment contracts, leave arrangements and holiday pay will need to be made in April. Furthermore you will need to start to think about how you are going to resource your business with changes in how ‘temps’ are paid and, further down the line, how your company is going to employ contractors. Employment contracts Two changes may be necessary depending on your current contracts and your process for issuing them to new starters after April 6th 2020. Firstly, all new starters (including employees, zero hours’ workers, casual and seasonal workers) after this date need to be issued with a written statement on or before the first day of employment (rather than within the first 8 weeks of employment as is currently the case) Secondly, for new employment contracts issued after 6th April 2020, the mandatory information that needs to be included has been extended to include the following: normal hours of work, days … [Read more...]
Are you ready to put your STAMP on 2020?
Strategy Targets Accounts Marketing People However you voted in December, and whatever your preferred outcome, we know the UK will be leaving the EU on 31st January. The clock starts on the transition period… but don’t worry, this is not a Brexit rant! The start of every New Year is the perfect time to restock your thought-bank, recharge your batteries and do some planning. Here’s how you can put your STAMP on your business in 2020 by focusing on these 5 important areas: Strategy Most small businesses do not have an up-to-date business plan, which means they tend to focus only on shorter-term outcomes. And as the Cheshire Cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road can take you there.” The classic result is an initial feeling that you are responding to the market and widening the range of services you provide, but this soon develops into a business spread so wide that it’s impossible for potential customers … [Read more...]
Excel automation
Not more spreadsheets to analyse and chart… Always a regular cry in the office. Reports produced on a regular basis need to be embellished, with charts that involve some fairly complicated calculations – cross-reference look-ups, previous month comparisons, and all that sort of thing. Probably, now this is done largely by hand. The data sits in several spreadsheets and/or databases, and is extracted, filtered, pivoted and everything else that was necessary to get it ready, before feeding into a chart. When the chart was ready, it is pasted into the report. Wouldn’t it be great with the data is all in one place, and with a single front-end, the necessary criteria set from drop-downs. Once these selections have been made (locations, benchmarks, which dataset to use, and so on) you click a button and go and make coffee. Actually, you haven’t really got time to make coffee as the process takes just a couple of minutes – if that. In this instance, any number of queries can be … [Read more...]
Data Protection
Under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) you must: use personal information fairly and lawfully; collect only the information necessary for a specific purpose(s); ensure it is relevant, accurate and up to date; only hold as much as you need, and only for as long as you need it; allow the subject of the information to see it on request; and keep it secure. Good information handling makes good business sense, and it provides a range of benefits. You'll enhance your business' reputation, increase customer and employee confidence, and by ensuring that personal information is accurate, relevant and safe, save both time and money. Your business has established an appropriate Data Protection Policy? A policy will help you to address data protection in a consistent manner. This can be a standalone policy statement or part of a general staff policy. The policy should clearly set out your business's approach to data protection together with responsibilities … [Read more...]
Power up your business with a Virtual Non-Executive Director
The benefits of Non-Executive Directors are well understood by many successful business owners. They bring an independent view and additional experience that enable better decisions to be made by the management board. Our Home Counties and London Group Business Advisors have developed a Virtual Non-Executive Director (VNED) service that offers Managing Directors and business owners the same independent view and advice without the complexity of shareholdings, appointing legal directors and director’s service agreements. Every company is different and yet there are many similar and transferable aspects from other industries and markets. Our experts are able to utilise their broad business experience and extensive network of contacts to support companies to achieve their strategic objectives. An independent view that challenges existing or new strategies can substantially enhance the robustness of a company’s direction. Sometimes difficult decisions are required to deal with business … [Read more...]
Impending Employment Law Changes for 2017
As MDs think about the New Year or start planning for the next financial year there are a number of forthcoming employment law changes that may affect you and your business. Gender Pay Gap True this applies only to large employers (employing over 250 employees) but it is likely to be cascaded down to the SME sector in coming years. So why do something about this now? Gender pay gap reporting applies both to bonuses and pay. If there are discrepancies between male and female workers on either score when employees are doing the same job, there are likely to be fines, the cost of immediate remedial action and potential claims for back pay equalisation going back 7 years. The reporting requirement for large employers will be to publish: the difference in mean pay between male and female employees; the difference in median pay between male and female employees; the difference in mean bonus pay between male and female employees; the difference in median bonus pay … [Read more...]
