HLAS

HMRC have started writing letters to some companies that have been making claims for Research and Development (R&D) relief suggesting that they may be fraudulent. This is the result of the system being abused by some spurious claims, but the tone of the letter may alarm some recipients. The HMRC Fraud Investigations Services unit has made the following statement “We have recently seen some concerning claims. To prevent abuse of the Research & Development relief and protect legitimate customers, we have conducted additional checks. Where evidence leads us to believe that fraudulent claims may have been made, we will issue [...]

With the departure of Boris Johnson, the two remaining contenders for the leader of the Conservative Party have started to outline their future policies. Former chancellor Rishi Sunak had stated that there would be tax cuts in the future, but only when inflation has been brought under control. In a recent campaign shift, he vowed to cut the 5% VAT on household energy bills to help families with rising living costs. Liz Truss has suggested that she would reverse the rise in National Insurance that came into effect in April, scrap a planned rise in corporation tax set to increase [...]

In an article first published in the Telegraph newspaper 14 July, Orlando Fraser, the Chair of the Charity Commission has stated the need for Charities to demonstrate the skills of frugality, and restraint during this belt tightening era. He commented that during times of collective challenges, charities come into their own, offering practical relief and other less tangible, but no-less precious commodities: hope, community, and a sense of belonging. We have witnessed this again and again, most recently during the pandemic, and in response to the invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. He states he is confident that, as economic [...]

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has launched the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) Phase 2: Summer 2022. This support will provide up to £70 million of grant funding for the following project types: studies - feasibility and engineering studies to enable companies to investigate identified energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects before making an investment decision energy efficiency - deployment of technologies to reduce industrial energy consumption deep decarbonisation - deployment of technologies to achieve industrial emissions savings Your business must operate an existing site which falls into one of the following categories: mining and quarrying manufacturing recovery [...]

New legislation will ensure seafarers get paid at least equivalent to the UK National Minimum Wage. The UK government has introduced new legislation to make sure seafarers get paid at least equivalent to the UK National Minimum Wage. The changes mean that thousands of seafarers regularly entering the UK will receive fairer pay. The Seafarers’ Wages Bill – introduced in the House of Lords – enables port authorities to deny access to services calling regularly at UK ports who do not pay their workers equivalent rate to the UK National Minimum Wage (NMWe) for time spent in UK waters. See: [...]

People across the UK will have the chance to become owners of at-risk local pubs, theatres, post offices, sports grounds and corner shops with the launch of the UK Government’s Community Ownership Fund. Voluntary and community organisations can bid for match funding. The Community Ownership Fund is open for Expressions of Interest applications. Once you have passed the EOI stage you will be sent a link to submit a full application to the Fund. Please note you can only submit a full application if you have received confirmation that your project is eligible at the EOI stage. Your full applications [...]

The Bank of England will be withdrawing legal tender status of the paper £20 and £50 notes after 30 September 2022 and are encouraging anyone who has these to spend or deposit them at their bank or Post Office. As they are returned to the Bank of England, these are being replaced with the new polymer £20 notes featuring J.M.W. Turner, and polymer £50 notes featuring Alan Turing. After 30 September 2022, the new polymer notes will be the only ones with legal tender status. After 30 September 2022 people with a UK bank account will still be able to [...]

An important support scheme offering Government-backed loans to small businesses will be extended for a further two years, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced last week. The Recovery Loan Scheme, originally launched in April 2021 to help businesses recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, has supported almost 19,000 businesses with an average of £202,000 in support. The Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) is a government scheme aimed at supporting access to finance for UK businesses. It gives lenders a government-backed guarantee against the outstanding balance of the facility. See: Further support for small businesses feeling the squeeze as £4.5 billion Recovery Loan Scheme [...]

Below are a few examples of some great questions from our “101 Great Marketing Questions” template we keep for clients to help think about existing marketing activities and how they can improve on them. Not all the questions will be relevant to your business, but it is a valuable exercise and may help you come up with a few ideas for growing your customer base. Here are a few examples to help you drive your sales upwards: Why do our customers buy from us now? What new ways of generating customers can we use to build our business? Which of [...]

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 and then looks at some really useful ideas. All the ideas in this guide ultimately revolve around four basic insights about growing a business. You can: Increase the number of customers Increase the number of times each one does business with you Increase the average value of each transaction Increase your own effectiveness and efficiency Here are some other business principles that we explore in [...]