HLAS

Professional foresters, landowners, nurseries, and seed suppliers are being encouraged to come forward for the latest round of Seed Sourcing Grant and Tree Production Capital Grants, which opened on the 5 December. The Tree Production Capital Grant supports efforts to build nursery capacity and grow trees and seed supply chains for the long-term. Funding will increase domestic production of trees and seeds, supporting investments in expansion, automation, and mechanisation of facilities and equipment. It has been designed to complement the Tree Production Innovation Fund, which provides support for research projects that enhance tree production methods in England. The Seed Sourcing Grant helps boost [...]

The UK’s Online Safety Act has recently become law and Ofcom has recently published their first consultation on implementing the new rules, including draft codes of practice and guidance. Businesses are invited to a series of webinars which will cover Ofcom’s proposals on how online services should approach the new duties relating to illegal content. This webinar series will provide an overview of how Ofcom proposes to implement the law in practice, the draft guidance and codes published, what businesses will need to do to comply with the new illegal content duties, and how you can respond to the consultation. Dates and [...]

Major plans to speed up connections and increase capacity on the electricity grid have been set out alongside £960 million investment in green industries. The package of measures will bring forward investment by building network infrastructure faster and speeding up grid connections. Launched by the Chancellor and Energy Security Secretary, government has published its response to Electricity Networks Commissioner, Nick Winser CBE, accepting his recommendations in all areas. These measures will halve the time it takes to build high-voltage power lines from 14 years to 7. Building on this, the Connections Action Plan will cut the average delay time projects face to connect to [...]

The Autumn Finance Bill 2023 has been published to enshrine tax changes into law. Measures in the Bill include helping businesses invest for less and making full expensing- an effective corporate tax cut - permanent. In March 2021, the former Chancellor announced the super-deduction, under which companies saved up to 25p in each pound they invested. Then at Spring Budget 2023, the now Chancellor introduced temporary full expensing, a three-year capital allowances policy which also delivered up to a 25p saving for every £1 invested. To provide certainty, when announcing full expensing, the Chancellor was clear that his ambition was [...]

Listed below are a number of live HMRC webinars that will help employers with payroll. The webinars are free and last around an hour. Employer filing obligations Wed 13 Dec at 1:45pm Taxing employees' benefits and expenses through your payroll Thu 14 Dec at 9:45am Statutory Sick Pay Mon 18 Dec at 1:45pm Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay Tue 19 Dec at 9:45am

Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds enormous potential for businesses, enhancing productivity and competitiveness. However, adopting AI technology can be challenging. That’s where “BridgeAI” comes in to support businesses harness the power of AI and unlock their full potential. The Alan Turing Institute, a partner of the Innovate UK BridgeAI programme, is offering artificial intelligence (AI) mentoring support for small and medium-sized businesses This support is targeted at companies and organisations facing barriers to data science and AI adoption who would benefit from a bespoke approach. While other BridgeAI offerings focus on skill-building and knowledge transfer, this bespoke advice initiative addresses the [...]

P2P is a relatively new concept which bypasses the banks to allow businesses to borrow money directly from ordinary people. Businesses get the funding they need, and lenders get a better rate than they would from leaving their money in the bank. In between the borrower and the lender stands the P2P platform which handles the collection and distribution of loans and repayments. P2P is very bespoke. The idea is to assess what the business needs first, rather than attempting to fit them into a ‘product’. Consequently, an early informal chat-through is often the best way to progress. Our P2P [...]

While we all want to see our businesses thrive and grow, this is unfortunately not always the case. As a trusted adviser, accountants are often the first port of call for company directors facing the possibility of insolvency and we can often point them in the right direction. Enlisting the assistance of a licensed insolvency practitioner during this stage is highly recommended, particularly if your business is already in an insolvent position, or you believe it will soon become insolvent. Depending on the current position of the company in question, together with its likely future viability, there are several options which [...]

From 4 March 2024, all companies who want to file paper documents will need to post them to the Cardiff office: Companies House Crown Way Cardiff CF14 3UZ CH will not accept post or hand deliveries at the Belfast office from 4 March 2024. Since September 2023, companies registered in Scotland post their documents to the Cardiff office. Most companies can file online instead of posting paper documents. By filing online, you will: save your company time and money; get confirmation that we’ve received your submission; avoid rejects and be less likely to get late filing penalties; and get access to additional online services. [...]

Beat the festive rush and get all your letters and parcels in the post on time. This year’s latest recommended posting dates are: Monday 18 December 2023 – 2nd Class, 2nd Class Signed For. Tuesday 19 December 2023 – 1st Class, 1st Class Signed For. Wednesday 20 December 2023 – Royal Mail Tracked 48®**. Thursday 21 December – Royal Mail Tracked 24®**. Friday 22 December 2023 – Special Delivery Guaranteed® (Guaranteed Saturday delivery for an extra fee). ** Royal Mail Tracked 24® and Royal Mail Tracked 48® are not available to purchase at Post Office® branches. See: Get ready for [...]