Is your business in the digital or Information Technology industry? The Government’s Help to Grow: Digital is now open for applications!

This initiative is part of two complementary programmes (one digital-based, one management-based) designed to help you learn new skills, reach new customers and boost your profits.

Help to Grow: Digital

This programme offers businesses access to free and impartial advice on how technology can help their business. If your business is eligible, you will also get a discount of up to 50 per cent (£5,000) on the costs of approved software.

The plan is to provide vouchers to purchase the software, so long as they help businesses with the following:

• Building client or customer relationships
• Increasing sales
• Managing online accounts and digital finances
• Selling online

All businesses can benefit from this free online advice. However, businesses that are eligible to obtain the vouchers are as follows:

• They are purchasing the discounted software for the first time
• They employ five to 249 employees
• They have been trading for more than 12 months
• They registered at Companies House

Help to Grow: Management

This initiative is an Executive Development programme accredited by the Small Business Charter and provides individual business mentor support. It is a 12-week practical programme with modules in approaches to digital adoption, financial management and strategies for growth and innovation.

If you are thinking about growing your business with this scheme, please contact us today if you have any queries. 

A recent report on the latest business trends suggests that despite the surge of hiring among UK firms in July, the lack of working employees could still threaten the UK’s economic recovery.

These staff shortages are a result of Brexit and pandemic-related factors, says the study. Although the easing of lockdown has encouraged many workers to branch out, companies are still struggling with a lack of employees.

COVID’s impact

The report also revealed that the job market flourished as restaurants and bars opened without restrictions enforced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as customer capacity limits.

However, many companies reported labour shortages due to Brexit and being told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid app. As a result, workers became worried about their circumstances and managers about rising costs. Plus, many wages rose too.

Brexit’s impact

Overall charges for companies went up due to the UK’s exit from the EU, as issues arose from importing goods. Plus, a lot of pressure was added onto global supply chains. Additionally, these factors impacted employees’ wages – many increased to retain and attract talent, and signing-on bonuses of up to £10,000 were introduced to entice candidates.

The Bank of England predicted last week that unemployment had peaked, and with a tight labour market that has left employers grappling to take on workers. It also forecasted inflation to hit a 10-year high of four per cent by the end of 2021.

If you need help with related issues, please contact us today to see how we can help, whether it is for general advice or recovering after the lockdown. 

A Government-backed insurance scheme will support the events and hospitality sector recover in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it has been revealed.

The report comes after the announcement of the £750 million Live Events Reinsurance Scheme developed in collaboration with financial services provider Lloyds.

Launching in September 2021, the uncapped cost indemnification scheme will cover a “wide array of live events” at risk of disruption due to Covid-19.

The initiative comes in response to concerns that the live events industry is still struggling to access the insurance products they need to run a safe and secure event, despite restrictions being lifted earlier this year.

Under the scheme, the Government will guarantee policies to ensure businesses have access to the cover they need, such as standard commercial events insurance and cover for Government-enforced cancellation due to the event being legally unable to happen.

It will run for 12 months until the end of September 2022.

Commenting on the initiative, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said the scheme will help businesses “plan events with confidence”.

“The events sector supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country, and I know organisers are raring to go now that restrictions have been lifted,” he said.

“But the lack of the right kind of insurance is proving a problem, so as the economy reopens I want to do everything I can to help events providers and small businesses plan with confidence right through to next year.

“With this new insurance scheme, everything from live music in Margate to business events in Birmingham can go ahead with confidence, providing a boost to the economy and protecting livelihoods through our Plan for Jobs.”

Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, Chief Executive of UK Music, welcomed the scheme, adding that the inability to obtain insurance has been “catastrophic” for the sector.

“We are extremely grateful to Government for listening to the calls of the sector and delivering a solution to the market failure in the insurance industry.”

According to the latest statistics, the live events sector is worth more than £70 billion annually and employs some 700,000 people.

For help and advice with related matters, please get in touch with our expert team today.

Employers will need to contribute more to the cost of keeping their staff furloughed from 1 August.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which has protected millions of jobs, is due to close at the end of September.

Furloughed employees will still receive up to 80 per cent of their pay for unworked hours, up to a monthly maximum of £2,500.

Currently, the Government pays 70 per cent of unworked hours, with employers expected to pay the remaining 10 per cent, plus national insurance and employer pension contributions.

But from 1 August the Government contribution drops to 60 per cent, with firms expected to pay the remaining 20 per cent, plus national insurance and employer pension contributions. This contribution level will remain in place until the scheme ends on 30 September.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies says the bill for employers keeping a member of staff on furlough rose  from £155 per month in June, to £322 in July and £489 in August and September.

The furlough scheme was first introduced in March 2020 and is being gradually wound down. Employers may choose to top up their employees’ salaries from 80 per cent to 100 per cent, but they’re under no obligation to do so.

Workers can either be on full-time furlough, or work part-time and be furloughed for the hours not worked. Your employer will have to cover wages at the normal rate for any hours worked.

The furlough scheme was previously meant to end in March this year, but was extended until the end of April in December. But in the Budget in March, Sunak announced that the scheme would run until 30 September.

In June it emerged that employers could furlough workers who were self-isolating. This clause was omitted from official guidance about the scheme.

According to the most recent figures (up to 30 June):

• About 1.9 million were on furlough (down from a peak of 5.1m in January)
• About 28 per cent of employers had staff on furlough, down from 30 per cent at the end of May
• There were more men on furlough than women
• The accommodation and food services sector saw the biggest reduction in the number of jobs on furlough in June (down 291,900)
• Arts and entertainment saw the highest rate of jobs being put on furlough in June

The government says 11.6 million jobs have been supported since the scheme began and from March 2020 to the end of September, the cost of furlough will come to about £66bn, according to estimates from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

However, the scheme has undoubtedly helped to save millions of jobs. At the start of the pandemic it was feared that more than one in 10 workers would become unemployed. Instead the unemployment rate is currently less than one in 20.

For help and advice with related matters, please get in touch with our expert team today.

There are important financial statements in every business including the profit and loss (or income) statement, the cash flow statement, and the balance sheet. Together, these documents provide important numbers and a snapshot of your finances.

To get the most out of these figures, many companies also produce management accounts – an in-depth analysis of the data. Management accounts aren’t mandatory – and there’s no fixed way to do them. But they’re invaluable.

For small business owners, book-keeping and accounting falls under the category of ‘necessary evil’. It’s a job that has to be done (or most likely outsourced) to meet your obligations.

Management accounts are a set of financial statements prepared either monthly or quarterly, which provide clear insight into the financial trading position of your business.

They aren’t required by law, and they don’t have to be filed with HMRC – but they’ll put you more in control of your finances than ever before, supporting the growth of your business.

Management accounts for small businesses typically include a profit and loss account, balance sheet, cash flow statement and a short report. You can put the accounts together yourself, or more realistically, an accountant can do it for you.

If you’re using a cloud accounting package like Xero, it’s easy to supply the necessary information to your accountant so they can produce the management accounts on your behalf.

Management accounts can:

• Monitor growth: You can compare your management accounts monthly, quarterly or yearly to accurately monitor not just your financial growth, but your performance as well.
• Plan for the future: You can more accurately forecast your future revenue, or make allowances for doubtful accounts. You might even spot seasonal differences in cash flow, so that you can plan around slower months in future.
• Motivate for funding: You can approach investors confidently, ready to answer all their questions about your business performance – whereas failing to show any will usually result in a swift ‘goodbye’.
• Optimise processes: If clients take a while to pay, you can improve your collection process, or make other credit decisions quickly. If you know which customers pay regularly, you can develop loyalty programmes and attractive offers to reward them.

Management accounts help you spot cash-flow problems before they happen, and help you analyse the money going out of your business. Could you cut your outgoings? Are you getting good value from your suppliers? Total business costs are of little value when managing a business – you need to know how and where that money is being spent.

With up-to-date information available each month, you can plan tax and dividend transactions with greater confidence. Management accounts for small businesses can help maximise the potential benefits of paying dividends rather than salary.

In addition, a regular review of your business finances means there’s no place to hide for malpractice.
Having regular management accounts produced reduces the amount of work required at year end, normally reducing the cost of producing your annual accounts.