A study by the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) has found that four out of five small businesses have unqualified staff managing their finances. SMEs are losing around £15,000 a year on average because of poor financial management, the ATT said, and were only seeking professional support two years...
Continue ReadingA report by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) calls for tax policy for small business owners to be overhauled to tackle widespread confusion among entrepreneurs. The OTS is critical of the “complex patchwork” that owners of private companies face, and said that the system needed to be simplified...
Continue ReadingRoyal Bank of Scotland has begun writing to its small business customers, inviting them to switch to another bank. As part of RBS’s £45bn taxpayer-funded bailout, it is being forced to provide £350m for rivals to offer incentives to customers to switch (the subject of the letters), as well...
Continue Reading18 first-time buyers are making it onto the housing ladder every week thanks to family members taking out equity release loans, according to Retirement Advantage. Its research found that one in 40 (2.6%) of the 36,825 equity release plans taken out in 2017 were by customers intending to use...
Continue ReadingRedrow chairman Steve Morgan says that he would be unable to create the firm today due to planning laws. Speaking at the Home Builders Federation conference in London, he asked why he or Berkeley boss Tony Pidgley would “find it almost impossible to build a major homebuilding company today.”...
Continue ReadingFinancial Conduct Authority CEO Andrew Bailey was warned yesterday that he faced damaging the regulator’s reputation if there were further delays in publishing the report into RBS’s mistreatment of small businesses. MPs said there was no time for the FCA to conduct legal checks before publishing – an unredacted...
Continue ReadingThe Times’ James Hurley looks at how the collapse of Carillion has exposed Britain’s “late payment epidemic” and the government’s efforts at resolving it. Industry bodies say Carillion was a member of initiatives designed to tackle late payment, including the prompt payment code and a “supply chain finance” initiative, giving it...
Continue ReadingCreditors owed money by collapsed support services firm Carillion may receive less than 1p in the pound, as its boss accused lenders of hastening its demise. In a statement filed to the High Court on Tuesday, Keith Cochrane, who has been at the helm of the stricken company since...
Continue ReadingLosing a huge player in the UK economy is never good news. The fall out from Carillion’s collapse will stretch far and wide across the country affecting strategic partners, trusted suppliers and companies further down the supply chain. It spent nearly £1bn on UK suppliers in 2016. Organisations up...
Continue ReadingFormer Waitrose MD Mark Price writes in the Telegraph that employers can boost productivity by focusing on staff happiness. He says academic research shows a link between happy, engaged employees and long-term improved organisational performance. A survey by Mr Price’s engaging.works website found better work-life balance would most improve staff happiness...
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