Workplace childcare vouchers – get the best out this scheme during COVID-19
As many employees began working from home during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, they used less paid childcare, as many before school clubs and nurseries were closed.
Plea for action to prevent “explosion” of fraud phone calls
Fraudsters are costing the UK economy up to £190 billion each year, research reveals.
Five ways cloud accounting could boost your business
Cloud accounting is simple, fast, and efficient. So why are so many businesses refusing to make the switch?
In this blog, we’re going to explore just five ways cloud accounting could boost your business and help you leave competitors behind.
Real time data
Are you looking to hire under the Kickstart Scheme?
With many younger people struggling to find employment due to the pandemic, the Government launched the Kickstart scheme to incentivise employers to take them on.
Hiring an Apprentice
Hiring an apprentice is an effective way to develop talent and improve a motivated and qualified team. Plus, it enables companies to upskill their workforce.
According to research, nearly 90 per cent of employees said apprenticeships helped them develop skills relevant to their organisation.
What exactly is an apprentice?
Apprentices are usually aged 16 or over and work in a specific role while combining studying to obtain the necessary knowledge and skills for that job. An apprenticeship role, therefore, counts as staying in full-time education.
New or current employees can be an apprentice but, you must pay them at least the minimum wage, which may differ depending on their age and the amount of time they serve under their apprenticeship. Additionally, the role must meet the following criteria:
- Allow apprentices to learn with specific skills for the job
- Receive time for studying or training during their working week (at least 20 per cent of their working hours)
- Work with experienced employees.
How do I hire an apprentice?
The first step in hiring an apprentice is to look into what type of apprenticeship you want for your business or organisation.
The second step is to search for what funding is available for the cost of training to your organisation.
Thirdly, find an organisation that offers training for the apprenticeship you have chosen.
Then, you can start to advertise the apprenticeship, which can be done through the national recruit an apprentice service.
Once you have selected your apprentice, you need to make an apprenticeship agreement and commitment statement.
However, if you do not want to hire and train the apprentice yourself, you can use an apprenticeship training agency, which will employ and train the apprentice when they are not working in your organisation.
Depending on which level the apprentice is at, apprenticeships can last anywhere between a year to five years.
HMRC letters remind businesses of VAT payments change
Reminder letters are being sent out to tens of thousands of UK companies explaining changes in the Making Tax Digital (MTD) system and how it affects them.
VAT: Cash vs Accrual Accounting
If your business is VAT-registered, or you are exploring the benefits of VAT registration, you must consider the different methods for accounting for VAT.
Bounce Back Loan Scheme fraud rising
The Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) which has been described as a ‘giant bonfire’ of taxpayers’ money by a senior banker, has seen fraud investigations rise by more than 50 per cent in some areas.
In total, £46 billion has been loaned under the scheme since its inception. However, the Cabinet Office believe that fraud losses across the public sector generally could be between 0.5 and 5 per cent, making a total of up to £2.3 billion on the scheme alone.
In addition, as of January 2021, according to the British Business Bank (BBB), which oversees the scheme, 43,958 loan applications, worth £1.6 billion were blocked by lenders, due to suspicions of fraud.
BBLs fraud investigations by the City of London Police increased by more than 50 per cent in February 2021 compared to the previous month, shows research from RPC, the international law firm.
The number of investigations opened into possible BBLs fraud increased from 17 in January to 26 in February before rising to 28 in March.
BBLs were those offered to small and medium-sized businesses in the UK that were impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. More than 1.5 million businesses took out a loan before the scheme closed on 31 March 2021. These were 100 per cent state-backed and worth up to £50,000 interest free in the first 12 months.
Due to low levels of controls, designed to enable lenders to fast-track payments to help struggling businesses, there are concerns that abuse of the scheme was widespread.
It has been reported that fraudsters falsified documents to claim loans for non-existent companies, whilst some company directors used money claimed through the scheme to pay for personal items such as luxury cars.
RPC says abuse of the BBLs scheme can carry a heavy prison sentence if defendants are found guilty by a jury. However, with a huge backlog of criminal cases (compounded further by Covid-19), trials for even serious offenders caught today are unlikely to take place until 2023/2024.
Sam Tate, partner and head of white collar crime at RPC says: “The authorities will want to accelerate the pace of investigations. Otherwise, there is a high risk these assets will leave the country.”
“BBLs have been particularly attractive to fraudsters. Despite lenders blocking tens of thousands of applications believed to be fraudulent, many will have slipped through holes in the net, with the cost to the taxpayer estimated to be in the billions of pounds.
“Yet, trials even for serious BBL fraudsters caught today are unlikely to take place until 2023/2024, which is less of a deterrent for on-going fraud.”
UK to roll out independent tariff suspension scheme
Tariffs on some imported goods will be partially or wholly suspended to help UK firms become “more globally competitive”, it has been revealed.
The new scheme, announced this week by the Department for International Trade (DIT), will allow companies to ask for duties to be withdrawn for a set period – effectively lowering overall production costs.
As the UK is no longer a part of the EU, the Government said it now has the power to establish an independent tariff regime and the authority to decide how duties should be applied.
Tariffs could be suspended under previous trading arrangements, but only if agreed upon by all 27 EU Member States.
The guidance confirms that once a suspension has been introduced, all UK importers will be able to benefit from the reduced rate.
The duty suspensions will apply to unlimited quantities of a wide range of goods imported to the UK, but not chargeable duties such as VAT or the anti-dumping duty.
As part of the launch of this scheme, the Government also confirmed that existing duty suspensions rolled over from the EU will be extended beyond 31 December 2021 to “ensure business certainty”.
Commenting on the report, Greg Hands, Minister for Trade Policy, said: “Now we have left the EU we can use suspensions to give UK firms the maximum possible benefit.
“This suspensions scheme will be accessible to importers across the country, and those that are granted will benefit entire sectors.
“They will lower costs and help our superb producers pack even more of a punch when they compete on the global stage.”
For help and advice on related matters, please get in touch with our expert team today.
Six out of 10 firms to employ more staff
Sixty per cent of small businesses (SMEs) are planning to recruit more staff over the coming months as we emerge from lockdown.
Research by the new bank Recognise, found 62 per cent of SMEs said they would be employing more staff as restrictions are lifted and business gets back to normal.
More than a third of SME firms surveyed (37 per cent) said they would be recruiting more full-time staff, while 15 per cent said they would be employing more part-time workers and 18 per cent of respondents said they would be hiring more temporary and seasonal workers.
One downbeat side to the news is that some employers are struggling to hire staff amid an exodus of overseas workers caused by the pandemic and Brexit, industry figures reveal.
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the recruitment firm Adecco there had been a sharp decline in the numbers of EU workers, fuelling the risk of labour shortages.
Separate figures from Adzuna showed rapid growth in hiring, with almost 1m vacancies listed on the jobs website, up 18 per cent on six weeks ago amid a rise in jobs in hotels, restaurants and in the events and leisure sector. But it warned there had been a steep decline in overseas jobseeker interest.
The jobs website, which is tracked by Government officials for early warning signs from the labour market, said the decline was being led in particular by overseas interest in typically lower-paid service-led sectors, while some towns and cities have up to 20 jobs on offer per jobseeker. According to the research, Maidstone in Kent is the hardest place to hire, followed by Manchester, Cambridge and Oxford.
Further research from the Recognise survey found less than one in five of SMEs surveyed (18 per cent) said they would be cutting staff numbers in the coming months, with just eight per cent saying they would be laying off full-time workers and seven per cent saying they would reduce the number of part-time employees. Just under a quarter of smaller firms (24 per cent) Recognise surveyed said they would be keeping employee numbers the same.
While employment plans were consistent across most UK industry sectors, there were some stand-out areas where small and medium sized businesses are clearly gearing up for an increase in trade as restrictions are relaxed over the next two months. Recognise found:
• 72 per cent of SMEs in the financial services and insurance sector said they would be recruiting, with more than half of the roles (53 per cent) in full-time positions
• 65 per cent of all small and medium sized retailers said they would employ more people, with over a third (35 per cent) in full-time roles
The survey also found that only nine per cent of all the SME businesses surveyed still have staff on furlough.
Recognise currently has dedicated relationship managers in London, Midlands, Manchester and Leeds, with more coming on stream soon.
The bank’s research and analysis was carried out in May 2021 amongst a nationally representative sample of 500 senior decision makers in British SMEs by 3Gem.
