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Looking for writers…

August 16, 2011 in Reference, SME to SME, UK, Wising UP! Information

We are looking for writers who will help us to build this site and in doing so provide us with a choice of quality articles for (fully attributed) publication in a business book. If you have a blog, already, in which you publish business or management articles and would be prepared to share a couple here on an occasional (ideally monthly) basis – we would be pleased to have them. Registration on the site is free and without obligation, except that all articles should be the work of the submitter – and quotes should include sources. No work will be reproduced off the site without the permission of the author and should your article be selected for publication, subject to your agreement, a bio and plug for your business/ blog can be included

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Established and Profitable Business in Spain for Sale

August 15, 2011 in For Sale, SME to SME, Spain

Established profitable business for sale.

Operating in Javea for almost 20 years the Sign Shop has become one of the most well known businesses in the area & produces work for local, national & international customers

Our capacity includes a full professional digital press service producing high quality printing of flyers, business cards etc. plus all types of internal & external signage including wide format graphics for both outdoor & exhibition use. We also supply personalised printed t-shirts, polos etc..

All work is performed in house with support machinery being fully owned by us & operated by our own staff.

Our premises of 350 square metres are secure leasehold with a further 5 years currently remaining.

The sale is to include all machinery & equipment with no debt attached & full training is available if required.

Open to offers in the region of 300,000.00 Euros.

phone: 0034 96 5790710

e-mail: info@signshopjavea.com

Web: www.signshopjavea.com

Location Information:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X%C3%A0bia

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Budget Update!

March 23, 2011 in Budget News, Finance, UK

This afternoon I delivered my second Budget. I wanted to write to you immediately to explain our plans and set out some of the key measures.

Last year’s Emergency Budget was about rescuing the nation’s finances and paying for Labour’s mistakes. Today’s Budget sticks to the plan, and focuses on reforming the economy to ensure jobs and growth for the future. I am also doing what I can help to families with the cost of living – including an immediate cut to fuel duty.

I know times aren’t easy for families at the moment, so this Budget announced help, including:

• An immediate cut in fuel duty by 1 pence per litre and a delay of April’s inflation rise in duty to next January. This means fuel duty is 6 pence lower than it would be under Labour. We are paying for this by putting up taxes on the oil companies while the oil price is high to create a Fair Fuel Stabiliser.
• An increase in the personal allowance from £6,500 to £8,100 over the next two years. This will mean £326 extra for working people and it will lift over a million low paid people out of tax altogether.
• £250 million to help 10,000 first time buyers get on the housing ladder.
• A freeze in Air Passenger Duty this year.
• Money for councils so virtually every council in England will freeze council tax next month.
• A new scheme to allow Gift Aid to be claimed on the contents of charities’ collecting tins and street buckets, and support for largest donations with radical reforms to Inheritance Tax – if you leave 10 per cent or more of your estate to charity, then the Government will take 10 per cent off your inheritance tax bill.

As well as helping in the short term we need to reform our economy to create growth and jobs in the future. The hard truth is that Britain has lost ground in the world economy.

Under Labour manufacturing halved, and growth depended on unsustainable public spending, debt and financial services. We need a new model of growth based on investment, manufacturing and exports – a Britain that makes things again. This Budget started that process, with measures that include:

• An additional 1p cut in corporation tax. In April this year corporation tax will fall from 28% to 26%. It will continue to fall by 1% in each of the following three years reaching 23%. Britain will be competitive again.
• Doubling Entrepreneurs Relief to £10m and sweeping changes to the generosity, simplicity and reach of the Enterprise Investment Scheme, with an increase in the income tax relief available from 20% to 30%.
• An extension of the small business rate relief holiday for another year.
• An additional £100m for new science facilities and more generous tax credits for small business research and development.
• 21 new Enterprise Zones with business rate cuts and new broadband to promote growth across the country.
• A review of the revenue raised by the temporary 50p rate of income tax.
• 50,000 additional apprenticeships and 100,000 work placements for young people.
• £3bn for a Green Investment Bank, which will generate an additional £15 billion in private sector investment in green projects and low carbon energy.

The Confederation of British Industry has already endorsed our approach saying: “This Budget will help businesses grow and create jobs.”

So this is our plan – reforming the economy to create jobs and supporting families. This Budget will put fuel back in the tank of Britain’s economy.

George Osborne
Chancellor of the Exchequer

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A Selection of Useful Books

March 16, 2011 in Basic Skills, Development, Reference, Relaxation, Startup

We have often been asked for a list of books that are useful whether you are new to business or just wanting to update a few of your ideas – here are a few we have slected for you – hope they are useful  – feel free to add more in the comments section – and if we agree, we will add the links here :-)

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How do you know when to trust a Brand? (or An Economy Too Far!)

August 17, 2010 in Health & Safety, Reference, The Unexpected, UK

As this story unfurled I was reminded of James Hammond’s presentation at an O4RB Meeting on the subject of Brands or Branding  (business brands that is as distinct from those applied with hot irons).

For something like 30 years I had been protecting myself from the stresses and strains of uncertain motoring dilemma with my membership of the Royal Automobile Club.

Any car can break down or suffer unforeseen problems no matter how well it is serviced and, in truth I came to regard my RAC membership as more important to me than my statutory car insurance policy. The good old RAC and its devoted team never once let me down, and would always go that extra mile to get me back on the road as soon as possible.

On one occasion, after a broken metal aerial had been flung up from the road to spear my car’s fuel tank, the patrolman even went so far as to make a repair by cutting an unused rubber duck aerial from the roof of his own vehicle, and using it, together with (I think) some epoxy resin, satisfactorily plug the hole. That repair was still holding strong when some time later I had the fuel tank replaced under a claim on my comprehensive insurance policy.

However the RAC are not the cheapest bunch to belong to, and as many of their rivals advertise strongly, and appear to have a good and happy following I switched horses for one of the others last year to save some money. I mean why not! They all offer the same service don’t they?

Just short of a year later I am here to tell you that nothing is further from the truth.

Just a few weeks ago, while in the Lake District with my wife, our caravan and trusty old land Rover Discovery we discovered a broken exhaust pipe hanging dangerously below the Landy.

No problem I thought, I’ll just ring my trusty break down service and ask them to send a man to safely secure the pipe so I can drive to an exhaust centre and have a new one fitted. You may imagine my surprise when an hour later I was visited by a man with an enormous recovery vehicle but hardly a tool kit to his name. All he was able to produce was a screwdriver and some cable ties (plastic cable ties) with which he tied up the exhaust pipe and drove off into the midday sun. (Oh yes we were in Coniston during the first rainless week for 6 weeks – it wasn’t all bad luck.)

When very shortly afterwards I again rang the breakdown firm they acknowledged the shortfall in their service, and agreed that if I located an appropriate exhaust centre they would provide recovery of our Landy to that centre the following morning. This was done but meanwhile we needed to request a hire car. No problem with one being provided but it had to be brought to us so we could be taken in it to the hire company’s office many miles away to complete the hire agreement before we drove it back to Coniston

All this wasted a day and a half of a one-week holiday!

So there is a lesson here. Just because the RAC has a proven and reliable brand it is a mistake to assume that any similar organisation can even hold a candle to its level of service. I have been extremely happy to rejoin the RAC and pay them whatever they ask.

Now if I can generate for my business the sort of Brand that the RAC has!!

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Emergency Budget – ‘Tough but fair’

June 23, 2010 in Budget News, Finance, SME to SME

A ‘tough but fair’ budget was delivered by Chancellor George Osborne on Tuesday 22 June 2010. He described the spending cuts and tax increases as being ‘unavoidable’ due to ‘the years of debt and spending’ by the previous Labour government.

The Chancellor tried to reassure us that he was being ‘fair’ and that ‘everyone will pay something but the people at the bottom of the income scale will pay proportionately less than those at the top’.

The key announcements included:

  • VAT Rate rise – As anticipated the VAT rate will increase from 17.5% to 20% with effect from 4 January 2011.
  • Personal Allowance increase – The personal income tax allowance is to increase by £1,000 in April 2011 to £7,475. This is worth £200 a year to a basic rate taxpayer.
  • Capital Gains Tax increase – The Capital Gains Tax rate for higher rate taxpayers will increase from 18% to 28% from midnight tonight. It remains at 18% for basic rate tax payers.
  • Entrepreneurs Relief extended – Entrepreneurs relief has been extended to a rate of 10% on the first £5m of gains as opposed to the first £2m.
  • Corporation Tax Rate cut – The Corporation Tax rate will be cut by 1% each year over the next four years until it reaches 24%. The Small Companies rate is to be cut to 20%.
  • National Insurance rise to stay – The National Insurance rate increases announced by labour remained intact and will still take place however the threshold at which employers start to pay will rise.
  • No change to Cigarettes, Alcohol and Fuel – No changes were made to duty on cigarettes, alcohol or fuel and the plan to increase the duty on cider from July was scrapped.
  • Freeze on Child Benefits – Child benefit is to be frozen for the next three years.
  • Changes to Tax Credits – Tax credits will reduce for families earning over £40,000 next year but for low income families they will receive more Child Tax Credit with the amount per child increasing by £150 above the rate of inflation.
  • State Pensions – The state pension is to be linked to earnings from April 2011 and is guaranteed to rise in line with earnings or 2.5% whichever is greater. The increase in the state pension age to 66 is to be accelerated.

For further details on the key announcements visit our website www.georgehay.co.uk where you can download a copy of our budget summary.

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March 2010 Budget

March 25, 2010 in Budget News, Finance

Budget or a pre election broadcast?

The Chancellor, Alistair Darling gave his final budget before there is a general election on Wednesday 24th March. He made very few announcements as the majority of tax rates and allowances had already been released in previous Budgets and the Pre Budget Report given in December. The key announcements were:

  • Annual Investment Allowance increased to £100,000 for capital expenditure by businesses
  • Entrepreneurs Relief doubled to £2 million
  • Relief for first time buyers from Stamp Duty Land Tax on residential transactions up to £250,000
  • VAT Registration threshold increased to £70,000

Our commentary on the budget is available on The George Hay Chartered Accountants’ website at www.georgehay.co.uk which gives further information on announcements made.

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The Art of Book-keeping – Part 6

August 4, 2009 in Basic Skills

The Financial Year End.  Each and every Limited Company trades for a period of One Year, this can be of 12 Calendar months or 13 ‘Lunar’ Months, a ‘Lunar’ Month consists of Four weeks only, at the end of which it has to present a ‘Set of Accounts’ to H.M.R.C. and Companies House.  As an employee you will have to prepare your ‘Final Accounts’, or assist in their preparation, from the balances shown in your Trial Balance.  From this point on if you make any mistakes you need backtrack only to the ‘Trial Balance’.

The Profit and Loss Account includes such items such as ‘Sales’, ‘Purchases’ and ‘Direct Expenses’ such as Promotional and Miscellaneous Expense are shown in one part whilst the second part bears the Overheads such as Licence Fees, Motor Expenses, Printing & Stationery and Postage & Telephones to name a few.  The sum arrived at by deducting Purchases & Direct Expenses from your Sales income would form a Sub Total to which would be added to, or subtracted from, the total of the ‘Overheads’ to give you a nett Balance on your Profit & Loss Account.

The Balance Sheet is the Final Account to be drawn up for the Year End.  It consists of your ‘Fixed Assets’ such as ‘Office Equipment’, ‘Furniture & Fittings’, ‘Motor Vehicles’ where they are the Property of the Company, to name a few and the respective Depreciation Accounts.  To these are added your ‘Current Assets’ such as your ‘Debtors’, ‘Bank Account’ and ‘VAT Liability’ and the sum total of these two categories becomes your ‘Total Assets.  The next sum would be ‘Current Assets less Current Liabilities’ which is deducted from, or added to, your ‘Total Assets’ and is shown as ‘Total Assets less Current Liabilities’.  To Balance your ‘Total Assets Less Current Liabilities’ you need to show on the opposing side of your Balance Sheet the figure you have for ‘Reserves’ plus ‘Profit & Loss Account’ which is the Balance of that Account within the Nominal Ledger.

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THE TENANT WHO LEFT BEHIND AN ANTIQUE DENTIST’S CHAIR

July 25, 2009 in The Unexpected

An Antique Dentist Chair

An Antique Dentist Chair

 An antique dentist’s chair equipped with extraction tools is not the usual thing a landlord or lettings agent expects to find left behind in an average rental property.

But there it was, at the end of the tenancy, after the tenant had packed up and left the house for good.

 And according to Belvoir, Britain’s biggest lettings specialist, which has an office on Lincoln Road in, Peterborough that is just one of the many bizarre items that have been found in properties across the UK.

“There’s been the usual crop of dumped hi-fi systems and scrapped Playstations,” says Mike Goddard Chief Executive at Belvoir. “But then comes the bizarre stuff – and every now and again we hear of a new surprise.”

“Usually tenants are no trouble and the transition between one tenant leaving and another inhabiting the property is smooth, but sometimes when a property is cleared out  it is the letting agents and landlords who have to deal with the leftovers,” continued Mike.

 After the dentist’s chair… 

  •  A Christmas tree beautifully decorated in the middle of August that featured a glass eye as one of the decorations
  •  A fish tank with two very bemused gold fish, left in the middle of the dining room floor
  • A montage of page three models that covered the entire upstairs of a property  
  • A stuffed sparrow hawk mounted on a plinth  
  • Two surf boards used as ‘saloon style’ doors to get in and out of the kitchen  
  • A box of 24 out of date Castlemaine lager with a fishing rod, a kite and a false breast  
  • An external door that had been mounted on bricks and used as a coffee table  
  • A wardrobe full of brand new women’s clothes, shoes, jewellery and makeup 

“Some items were even left as gifts for the landlord. One tenant left pickled eggs because they wanted to say thank you and thought the landlord would like them!” continued Mike.

 If at the end of a tenancy a number of unwanted items have been left, please contact Belvoir as they can put you in touch with a number of charities that offer a free ‘pick up’ service for unwanted sellable items.

 Belvoir’s growing network of over 140 franchised offices stretch across the whole of the UK and look after a property portfolio valued at more than £1 billion.

“Sometimes these ‘leftovers’ can result in the deposit being held back from the tenant – especially where damage has been caused to the property,” explains Mike.

 “If, as a tenant, you act according to the rules laid out in your tenancy agreement, your landlord has no right – and in the majority of cases no desire – to hold on to any of your deposit at the end of your tenancy.”

 “Those who do lose deposit money do so because they have simply been irresponsible at some point during their tenure,” Mike added.

Established in 1994 Belvoir Lettings is one of the UK’s leading lettings agents with over 140 franchised offices. The company which handles a property portfolio valued at over £1billion offers a specialist service in property rental, property management, residential lettings and buy-to-let for tenants and landlords. Each local Belvoir Property Management Agency is owned and personally managed by local owners, operating under licence from Belvoir Property Management (UK) Ltd. www.belvoirlettings.com

  For further information or to set up an interview please contact:

 Emma Wimpeney  Powell Communication Consultants  T: 0161 8285400  E: emma.wimpeney@powell-pr.co.uk 

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What Is New In My Business?

July 25, 2009 in Development, SME to SME

spotlightWhat Is New In My Business?

…A Complete Change Of Emphasis

That’s What !

“I have the ability not only to show the way to saving hundreds of pounds per year (per household) on the price of gas, electricity, telephone, broadband and most shopping bills, but also to offer the opportunity to join me in a highly profitable business with escalating residual income.” I have reviewed what I have to offer and the penny has dropped. Offer people what they want regardless of how well you can do anything else. Don’t ask me why it took so long to see the obvious.
 
For nearly nine years I have concentrated primarily on offering legal services, in the form of writing Wills for which I am well suited by both qualification and experience, and I continue to do that.

However, more recently I joined a business offering the opportunity either to save money or to make money, in the area of telephony and power utilities. It has been simmering on the back burner while I gently announced it to my Will and Probate clients and others as an option they might like to consider.

Well no more! Of late I have had far more interest in Utility Warehouse Discount Club than in Will Writing etc. and it is becoming quite exciting. So I will go with the flow and announce to the world at every opportunity

Utility Warehouse Discount club is not just a club, it is an 11 year old company that has come of age. Without having a professional sales force, or an advertising budget, and refusing as it does to give any kickbacks to the like of U-switch, it has caught the attention of Which magazine in 6 separate editions this year, and they rate the company as just about the best for customer service, customer satisfaction, value for money, and billing; and now we also offer cash back on everyday shopping too.

Please take a look at my website www.bjutilities and give me call.

What other company would actually give you a triple value guarantee to be cheaper than B.T. and British Gas, and the 6 Regional Electricity Companies, AND invite you to try its services without any attempt to tie you in for a fixed period contract.

250,000 satisfied customers cannot be wrong can they?

P.S. Our services are not restricted to domestic customers either. We do good things for businesses’ bottom lines too.

B J U Utilities

Brian Williamson
For Wills. Inheritance Tax, and Estate Planning Or To Reduce All Your Utility Bills in One Go.
Brian@bjwills.co.uk
www.telecomplus.org.uk/savewithbj
37 Beaumaris Road
Sawtry
Huntingdon, Cambs. PE28 5SF
brian@bjwills.co.uk
www.bjwills.co.uk: www.telecomplus.org.uk/savewithbj
tel: 01487 831853; 0800 90 20 429
mobile: 07929 942507

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