HLAS

The UK Government has launched a consultation to simplify the UK’s R&D tax relief system. The 8-week consultation, which runs from 13 January to 13 March 2023, sets out proposals on how a single scheme could be designed and implemented. This would replace the two R&D tax relief schemes currently in place - the Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC) and the small and medium enterprises (SME) R&D relief. A scheme modelled on the current RDEC for SMEs would also give decision makers in smaller companies clearer information, which will help them set budgets for R&D. In contrast, for those [...]

The UK Government has published the proposed statutory rates for maternity pay, paternity pay, shared parental pay, adoption pay, parental bereavement pay, and sick pay from April 2023. The rates normally increase each April in line with the consumer price index (CPI) and the increase normally occurs on the first Sunday in April, which in 2023 is 2 April. See: Benefit and pension rates 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Despite a small growth in the economy in November of 0.1%, the UK has been struggling under the weight of high inflation and rising borrowing costs. Most economists are predicting a contraction in the economy in the next six months. Conditions are likely to remain challenging for businesses and individuals alike, so now is a good time to focus on resilience Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress — such as business, workplace, and financial stressors. It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences. So what actions can you [...]

Stress, anxiety and depression is the biggest cause of work-related illness in Great Britain and numbers continue to rise. According to the latest statistics (PDF) there were 914,000 workers suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2021/22. 17 million working days were lost due to stress in this period. The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) stress website has plenty of advice and includes examples of stress risk assessments tailored to different business sizes, as well as case studies and much more. The stress talking toolkit shows how line managers can have simple, practical conversations with employees to help prevent stress at work. Their Working Minds [...]

UK registered micro and small businesses in the creative industries sector, can apply for funding up to £50,000 with a package of support to grow their business. The aim of this competition is to support business innovation within the creative industries by providing a package of targeted and continuous support to help businesses to grow. Your project must: be related to and for the benefit of the creative industries in the UK; demonstrate a clearly innovative and ambitious idea; be new to your business, with a demonstrable impact to your growth plan; create a new revenue stream, for example new [...]

If you know a commercially successful breakthrough that is making a real impact in the world, submit it now for the chance to win £50,000 and the coveted MacRobert Award gold medal. The award, originally founded by the MacRobert Trust, is now presented and run by the Royal Academy of Engineering, with support from the Worshipful Company of Engineers. Each year the winning team receives a gold medal, widespread publicity, a £50,000 prize and an exclusive weekend away at Douneside House to recognise outstanding innovation, tangible societal benefit and proven commercial success. Past winners have included the engineers behind innovations [...]

Are you working within the agriculture, creative, construction and transport sectors and interested in creating and deploying innovative artificial intelligence (AI) solutions? If so, join Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) for an exploration of the future of UK AI at their upcoming scoping events being held across the UK. The events will bring together interested stakeholders to discuss the direction of a brand new programme aiming to stimulate the adoption of AI in sectors with high-growth potential. Launching soon, this programme aims to: gain a greater consideration of ethical, security and bias aspects in the development of new AI [...]

The UK Export Academy is a free training programme, delivered through a hybrid of online and face-to-face learning. The UK Export Academy is open to any business in the UK who has a product or service that can be sold internationally. It is for businesses who know that they want to reach international customers and contracts in the future, as well as those who might already be selling beyond the UK and want to expand into new markets. From introductory sessions to specific sector workshops, the UK Export Academy has hours of content available for all SMEs across the UK. [...]

The UK Government has announced a six-month extension to alcohol duty rates freeze to 1 August 2023. The current alcohol duty freeze was expected to come to an end on 1 February 2023. At Autumn Budget 2021 the UK Government announced the biggest reforms to alcohol duty in 140 years. The changes overhaul the UK’s rules following exiting the EU, to give industry more time to prepare the reforms will take effect from 1 August 2023. See: Government announces six-month extension to alcohol duty freeze - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The Department for Transport (DfT) has launched a new fund to help small to medium-sized businesses to develop greener and more efficient solutions for freight. The Freight Innovation Fund will support SMEs with solutions to current challenges in the United Kingdom’s freight sector, as well as developing a future pipeline of solutions to meet the sector’s emerging needs. The programme will take a cross-modal view of the end-to-end freight journey, deploying solutions in real-world environments. The programme will identify and trial new products and services coming to market in the freight sector. It will convene and support innovating organisations across [...]