Blog categories

What problems will the 2012 Olympics cause you?

It seems as though the country, or at least parts of it, is grinding to a halt due to the white stuff. Obviously it's a big problem for employers and could cost thousands of pounds in lost income. However, with the use of relatively inexpensive (Often free) modern technology, for some workers there should be little or no disruption.

There are major changes to pension rules for employers on the way. Depending on the size of your business, you could be affected as early as October 2012. However, for businesses with fewer than 250 employees they won't come into effect until February 2014. The rules are numerous and are too complex to list here. Therefore it is imperative that proper advice is sought and that it is tailored to your business.

In the first week of February some of us went ROWE. Mark, Nathan, Bev, Lian, David, Tracy and Michael all started trialling working in a Results Only Work Environment (ROWE). Basically, this means they can work where they want to and when they want to as long as the job gets done.

I was amazed to learn of some regulations that were introduced in 2008 and how they can put small businesses at risk, if they don't know about them. These regulations provide your customers with a minimum cooling off period of 7 days for most contracts entered into at their home or place of work.

Click here if you want to know more

A new online resource, 'Basic PAYE Tools', replaces HMRC's Employer CD-ROM. The resource is available on the Business Link website. As well as having all the features of the CD-ROM it also has an automatic update facility to ensure that the latest information and figures are contained within the tool.

We starting working in a Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) on the 1 February 2011, and to start with life didn’t change. I only worked part time hours prior to moving to ROWE so I was still coming to work on my usual days for my usual hours through habit mostly but also through necessity as that was when I have childcare.

If you run a business or social enterprise based in the East of England, the East or West Midlands that employs less than 250 people and has the potential for fast or high growth (Increase turnover by 20% from three years), you can now get help to develop your leadership and management skills.

If you have recently started a new business you may be in line for a call from HMRC under their new pilot scheme. HMRC have announced a telephone education strategy in which they will call new business owners “to offer to talk them through some of the main things they need to know as a new business and to signpost them to the available help online”.

When you start a business, few imagine it ever coming to an end, well all good things do eventually come to an end. To ensure you maximise the potential and minimise the pain, it would be a good idea for you to plan your exit from your business.

The Coventry Rioch Arena, home of the Sky Blues, hosted the annual 2011 conference for the Institute of Sales Marketing and Management and this month I was privileged enough to attend on behalf of GreenStones. This is the second time we have attended the event and would recommend it to anyone wanting to improve their sales and marketing.

Next April, important changes are being brought in which may have a serious impact for owners of Commercial Property. It is possible that current owners of commercial property have unclaimed capital allowances on certain fixtures and fittings imbedded within the property. Under current legislation, property owners are able to make a claim for fixtures purchased at any time, and still receive tax relief for the last two years. The new rules will require businesses to pool their expenditure on fixtures in a building, within a short period of acquiring the building, in order to qualify for capital allowances. It is possible that the new rules will prevent claims being made for fixtures in property purchased or built in the past.