HLAS

The UK Government has launched its ‘Help for Households’ campaign. The campaign aims to help people through the cost of living this winter. Some of the topics include: Cheaper broadband and phone packages - Social tariffs are cheaper broadband and phone packages for people claiming Universal Credit, Pension Credit and some other benefits. For further information please select the following link Cheaper broadband and phone packages - Ofcom Discounts and offers – To find out what discounts and offers are available from businesses to help with the cost of living, please select the following link Discounts and offers - Help for Households [...]

From tax year 2024/25 unincorporated businesses will be required to compute their profits on the new ‘tax year’ basis, i.e. those arising between 6 April and 5 April. Many businesses are considering changing their accounting period end to align with the tax year but those that choose not to will need to apportion their profits and may need to estimate some of the figures in order to meet the 31 January filing deadline. For example, a business with a 31 December accounting year end would need to include nine months of the profits from the year ended 31 December 2024 [...]

Andrew Griffith, the UK City of London minister, has stated the UK government’s intent to revamp the regulation of the investment and insurance sectors. Earlier this month he unveiled over 30 reforms “to unlock investment and turbocharge growth in towns and cities across the UK”. Last week the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, set out plans to repeal and replace EU retained laws governing financial services. This will establish a new regulatory framework for the UK with the aim of making it more agile, less costly, and more responsive to emerging trends. These plans included a commitment to make substantial legislative progress [...]

If you are looking for some new business ideas, then ask us for a copy of our guide called “57 Ways to Grow Your Business”! Our publication is packed full of bright ideas for the Serious Entrepreneur and starts with the four basics of growth. All the ideas in this guide ultimately revolve around four basic insights about growing a business: Increase the number of customers, Increase the number of times each one does business with you, Increase the average value of each transaction, and Increase your own effectiveness and efficiency. Here are some other business principles that we explore in [...]

Making tax digital (MTD) for income tax self-assessment (ITSA) was originally scheduled to start in 2018 and was then put back to 2023 and then 2024. It was announced just before Christmas that the new system of submitting digital information quarterly to HMRC has been delayed yet again! The start date will now depend upon the gross business receipts of the individual. Self-employed individuals and landlords with annual gross receipts above £50,000 will need to follow the rules for MTD for ITSA from 6 April 2026. Those with annual gross receipts between £30,000 and £50,000 will be mandated into the [...]

Creative Catalyst, run by Innovate UK, provides end-to-end innovation support for high-potential businesses in the creative sector. The first £10 million funding call opened on the 5 December 2022. UK registered micro and small businesses in the creative industries sector will be able to apply for funding up to £50,000 with a package of support to grow their business. To be eligible, proposals must: be from the creative industries or support the creative industries; demonstrate clear benefits for the UK creative industry and the wider UK economy; focus on a clear opportunity and the proposed innovation which addresses it; and [...]

The Prince’s Countryside Fund Farm Resilience Programme (FRP) offers free business skills training to family farmers across the UK. The programme is open to dairy and livestock family farm businesses and takes a whole-farm and whole-family approach. Workshops include: Business Health Check, Benchmarking, Practical cost management, Getting to know your finances, Managing your farmed environment, Planning your future, and Business planning and managing change. See: Farm Resilience Programme - The Prince's Countryside Fund (princescountrysidefund.org.uk)

The Green Home Finance Accelerator (GHFA), part of the UK Government’s Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) will provide up to £20 million grant funding to support the design, development and piloting of a range of finance propositions which encourage domestic energy efficiency and low carbon heating retrofits in the owner-occupied and private rented sectors. The UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) wants as many UK homes as possible to reach Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C by 2035. Private investment, alongside government support, will be essential to meet this target – and the green finance market can play [...]

The way in which UK organisations responsible for packaging must carry out their recycling responsibilities is changing. If you are affected by the new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging (including reforms to the Packaging Recycling Note (PRN) system), you need to start to collect the correct packaging data from 1 January 2023. Collection of your packaging data won’t become mandatory until March 2023, and you will need to start reporting this data from July 2023. These regulations will apply to larger organisations that handle and supply packaging to businesses and consumers. This may also include products imported from outside the UK and online marketplaces. See: How to [...]

Businesses that use Royal Mail's services are urged to plan ahead as strike action is expected to take place this winter. If you use Royal Mail to deliver your goods you should be aware of planned industrial action that is due to take place on: Wednesday 14 December 2022 Thursday 15 December 2022 Royal Mail's services will be affected by delays to mail posted the day before, during, or in the days after any strike action. See: Royal Mail strike updates | Royal Mail Group Ltd