HMRC has released a series of online video guides to help small companies and start-ups with the complexities of the UK's tax system.
The guides, presented by Dan Snow, cover a variety of important tax topics - such as VAT, Corporation Tax, and PAYE.
The online guides also cover other areas such as the Construction Industry Scheme, importing and exporting, keeping accurate records, and things to consider when employing other people.
A new guide is also available alongside the videos - "Giving your business the best start with tax".
Dan Snow commented: "We've broken the information down into small video chunks, so that people can access exactly what they need to know. Hopefully this makes the new videos really useful for people and businesses."
Access them by clicking here.
Friday, 6 March 2009
Thursday, 5 March 2009
'Manu-services’ sector deserves government support
A new report from The Work Foundation today makes the case that if the government is serious about helping ‘the real economy’, loan guarantees and emergency funding ought to be extended to the manufacturing sector.
With the UK’s strength in financial services in question, those high and medium tech manufacturing businesses which have also developed strong service portfolios on top of their traditional product offerings – the ‘manu-service’ sector - represent one of ‘the best hopes’ for the upturn, the paper argues.
Ian Brinkley, associate director at The Work Foundation, said: ‘The question needs asking – what are we going to live on in the future? Modern manufacturing is once again facing a battering from the recession, but it would be a big mistake just to write the sector off. We need to preserve as much of the industrial base as possible because once it is lost it is near impossible to get back again. Despite the mythmaking around the demise of manufacturing, the sector remains extremely important for jobs, exports and GDP.’
Manufacturing and the Knowledge Economy describes the transformation of manufacturing over recent years. The old way of separating manufacturing and services does not now reflect the inter-connected, interdependent nature of modern manufacturing, it says. Companies such as Rolls Royce make as much, if not more, money from service contracts, sales of licences and hours of flight time on their engines as from the engines themselves. Car makers run finance houses; and pharmaceutical companies offer healthcare services as well as drugs. Such manu-service industries are typically adaptable, highly profitable and very knowledge intensive.
In the UK the share of manufacturing in total value added declined from 35 per cent to below 15 per cent between 1970 and 2005, whereas the share of ‘knowledge services’ (highly skilled, ICT-intensive service work) rose from 23 per cent to 46 per cent over the same time. However, a key driver behind the growth of knowledge services is manufacturers adding services to their primary manufacturing function. Frequently, products have become relatively cheaper as services have become more expensive.
High to medium tech manufacturing is producing nearly as much added value to the UK economy (10 per cent) as high tech services (11 per cent). And with the pound so low against other major currencies exporting opportunities have never been so competitive. This is welcome news, since 70 per cent of all manufacturing exports came from high to medium tech ‘knowledge economy’ manufacturing sectors.
Source: Work Foundation...read more.
With the UK’s strength in financial services in question, those high and medium tech manufacturing businesses which have also developed strong service portfolios on top of their traditional product offerings – the ‘manu-service’ sector - represent one of ‘the best hopes’ for the upturn, the paper argues.
Ian Brinkley, associate director at The Work Foundation, said: ‘The question needs asking – what are we going to live on in the future? Modern manufacturing is once again facing a battering from the recession, but it would be a big mistake just to write the sector off. We need to preserve as much of the industrial base as possible because once it is lost it is near impossible to get back again. Despite the mythmaking around the demise of manufacturing, the sector remains extremely important for jobs, exports and GDP.’
Manufacturing and the Knowledge Economy describes the transformation of manufacturing over recent years. The old way of separating manufacturing and services does not now reflect the inter-connected, interdependent nature of modern manufacturing, it says. Companies such as Rolls Royce make as much, if not more, money from service contracts, sales of licences and hours of flight time on their engines as from the engines themselves. Car makers run finance houses; and pharmaceutical companies offer healthcare services as well as drugs. Such manu-service industries are typically adaptable, highly profitable and very knowledge intensive.
In the UK the share of manufacturing in total value added declined from 35 per cent to below 15 per cent between 1970 and 2005, whereas the share of ‘knowledge services’ (highly skilled, ICT-intensive service work) rose from 23 per cent to 46 per cent over the same time. However, a key driver behind the growth of knowledge services is manufacturers adding services to their primary manufacturing function. Frequently, products have become relatively cheaper as services have become more expensive.
High to medium tech manufacturing is producing nearly as much added value to the UK economy (10 per cent) as high tech services (11 per cent). And with the pound so low against other major currencies exporting opportunities have never been so competitive. This is welcome news, since 70 per cent of all manufacturing exports came from high to medium tech ‘knowledge economy’ manufacturing sectors.
Source: Work Foundation...read more.
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Recession Insights - Top 10 Critical Business Priorities
1 Provide excellent customer service. We can’t survive without customers, so don’t forget them. Listen and respond to their needs, demonstrate the value you place in them. Review customer and client feedback formally – this will be the litmus test of what you are delivering (and how) and will help to inform positive changes where necessary. Always go the extra mile for your most profitable and loyal customers.
2 Innovate. Develop new unique products and services to distinguish you from the competition. Focus on those that add tangible value or reduce costs for your customers and clients.
3 Invest in people. Offer customer-focused training and reward high performers. The most talented and valuable members of your workforce are those most able to move on during a slowdown. Introduce simple, cost-effective recognition programmes and allow them the flexibility to work where or when they need to.
4 Maintain quality. If you trade on quality, do not cut costs that are visible to the customer in the short term, compromising your reputation in the long term.
5 Reduce debt and manage cashflow. Tighten internal financial procedures immediately and look to secure longer term contracts where possible. The single biggest regret of struggling businesses was that they did this too late, or not at all, which speaks volumes.
6 Respond to the market quickly. Be flexible. Ccapitalise on your size and ability to change direction quickly. Carry out detailed risk assessments on all areas of your business and customer base – identify ‘safe’ areas to focus on.
7 Prioritise marketing. Do not cut budgets or stop advertising as a knee-jerk reaction to challenging trading conditions. The most successful businesses use slowdowns as an opportunity to grow, share and broadcast their message louder than the competition. Crucially, you need to remind your customers that you’re still in business and instil confidence in your existing clients. Slowdowns also offer greater scope for canny businesses to negotiate for favourable deals.
8 Forecasting accurately and plan realistically. Super SMEs tended to have a ‘slowdown plan’ in place. If you haven’t written one, start now. Encourage open and honest communication with your teams on what is realistic. Revisit old order-books to ensure no opportunities are being missed.
9 Know your market. Increase market knowledge and insight. Be seen as the thought-leader in your field and enable your workforce to become experts through sharing information. Use readily available free research online to boost your expertise.
10 Invest in technologies to help your people. The need to work more efficiently has never been higher up the agenda. Invest wisely in IT solutions focused on optimising your workforce productivity, reducing wastage and enabling smarter (not necessarily harder or longer) working.
Extract from: A Guide To Plain Sailing Through The Recession - Plantronic
s - www.plantronics.com.
The full guide can be downloaded here: http://www.sme-guide.co.uk/
www.ukba.co.uk
2 Innovate. Develop new unique products and services to distinguish you from the competition. Focus on those that add tangible value or reduce costs for your customers and clients.
3 Invest in people. Offer customer-focused training and reward high performers. The most talented and valuable members of your workforce are those most able to move on during a slowdown. Introduce simple, cost-effective recognition programmes and allow them the flexibility to work where or when they need to.
4 Maintain quality. If you trade on quality, do not cut costs that are visible to the customer in the short term, compromising your reputation in the long term.
5 Reduce debt and manage cashflow. Tighten internal financial procedures immediately and look to secure longer term contracts where possible. The single biggest regret of struggling businesses was that they did this too late, or not at all, which speaks volumes.
6 Respond to the market quickly. Be flexible. Ccapitalise on your size and ability to change direction quickly. Carry out detailed risk assessments on all areas of your business and customer base – identify ‘safe’ areas to focus on.
7 Prioritise marketing. Do not cut budgets or stop advertising as a knee-jerk reaction to challenging trading conditions. The most successful businesses use slowdowns as an opportunity to grow, share and broadcast their message louder than the competition. Crucially, you need to remind your customers that you’re still in business and instil confidence in your existing clients. Slowdowns also offer greater scope for canny businesses to negotiate for favourable deals.
8 Forecasting accurately and plan realistically. Super SMEs tended to have a ‘slowdown plan’ in place. If you haven’t written one, start now. Encourage open and honest communication with your teams on what is realistic. Revisit old order-books to ensure no opportunities are being missed.
9 Know your market. Increase market knowledge and insight. Be seen as the thought-leader in your field and enable your workforce to become experts through sharing information. Use readily available free research online to boost your expertise.
10 Invest in technologies to help your people. The need to work more efficiently has never been higher up the agenda. Invest wisely in IT solutions focused on optimising your workforce productivity, reducing wastage and enabling smarter (not necessarily harder or longer) working.
Extract from: A Guide To Plain Sailing Through The Recession - Plantronic
s - www.plantronics.com.
The full guide can be downloaded here: http://www.sme-guide.co.uk/
www.ukba.co.uk
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Press Release: New help for Business Owners, by Business Owners
A new resource centre to help owners and MD’s of small and medium sized companies (SMEs) has been launched by UK Business Advisors (UKBA™).
The resource can be found at www.ukba.co.uk and is specifically aimed at helping those owners and MDs. These people have the same problems as people running large companies, but without having the luxury of employees who can cover all the areas. The materials and advice available covers all key aspects of running a business including strategy, marketing, sales, human resources, finances and processes.
The big difference from most such information bases, is that all this material has been produced by people who work in SMEs, and in many cases actually run them. They are based on real life experiences, and not theoretical or academic papers from people not actually running businesses. The information is continually updated to reflect the changing economic environment and evolving technology. The information is backed up by access to the 80+ specialists in the UKBA™ organisation.
**Ends**
www.ukba.co.uk
The resource can be found at www.ukba.co.uk and is specifically aimed at helping those owners and MDs. These people have the same problems as people running large companies, but without having the luxury of employees who can cover all the areas. The materials and advice available covers all key aspects of running a business including strategy, marketing, sales, human resources, finances and processes.
The big difference from most such information bases, is that all this material has been produced by people who work in SMEs, and in many cases actually run them. They are based on real life experiences, and not theoretical or academic papers from people not actually running businesses. The information is continually updated to reflect the changing economic environment and evolving technology. The information is backed up by access to the 80+ specialists in the UKBA™ organisation.
**Ends**
www.ukba.co.uk
Recession Insights - Winning Behaviour
It is not just lack of investment in technology that characterises under performance in SMEs. Our research found that SMEs are also more likely to have reduced rather than increased training budgets over the past 12 months (37% have reduced training budgets compared to 24% who have increased them).
in a direct reversal, however, we also identified a new breed of 'Super SMEs’ (those that are actually booming through the slowdown) which are more likely to have increased (rather than decreased) training investment (39% have spent more on their training in the past 12 months while 28% reduced their training spend).
Similarly, while overall SME investment in marketing fell in the past 12 months (36% reduced marketing spend while 32% increased it), amongst our Super SMEs, 43% increased their marketing spend, compared to less than one in five who reduced it. There was also a net decrease overall in IT infrastructure spend. 29% spent less on this, while 27% spent more. Amongst Super SMEs 47% spent more on IT infrastructure and just 16% spent less.
The trends remain the same for employee benefits, flexible working and communication technology and new product development. In each instance the general trend amongst SMEs was to reduce spend. However amongst those SMEs which are currently experiencing growth, or have greater confidence in their long-term future, spend was up across the board.
Extract from: A Guide To Plain Sailing Through The Recession - Plantronic
s - www.plantronics.com.
The full guide can be downloaded here: http://www.sme-guide.co.uk/
www.ukba.co.uk
in a direct reversal, however, we also identified a new breed of 'Super SMEs’ (those that are actually booming through the slowdown) which are more likely to have increased (rather than decreased) training investment (39% have spent more on their training in the past 12 months while 28% reduced their training spend).
Similarly, while overall SME investment in marketing fell in the past 12 months (36% reduced marketing spend while 32% increased it), amongst our Super SMEs, 43% increased their marketing spend, compared to less than one in five who reduced it. There was also a net decrease overall in IT infrastructure spend. 29% spent less on this, while 27% spent more. Amongst Super SMEs 47% spent more on IT infrastructure and just 16% spent less.
The trends remain the same for employee benefits, flexible working and communication technology and new product development. In each instance the general trend amongst SMEs was to reduce spend. However amongst those SMEs which are currently experiencing growth, or have greater confidence in their long-term future, spend was up across the board.
Extract from: A Guide To Plain Sailing Through The Recession - Plantronic
s - www.plantronics.com.
The full guide can be downloaded here: http://www.sme-guide.co.uk/
www.ukba.co.uk
Monday, 2 March 2009
Recession Insights - Mobility & IT
One of the more striking findings of the research is that businesses that have invested strongly in IT infrastructure are currently showing the highest levels of performance. In particular, investment in mobility, thus optimising individual productivity in a climate where staffing levels are being reduced, appears to be emblematic of the ability to plan strategically and weather the vagaries of the economy.
Businesses that are fully enabled for remote and mobile working said that they are more than twice as likely to review their business plan on a monthly basis compared to those firms that have enabled none of their staff for mobile working (34% compared to 16%).
In general we found also that SMEs that have fully mobile workforces are 10% less likely to have been hit by the slowdown and are also 60% more likely to forecast turnover growth compared to SMEs that do not enaAble mobile working.
These figures are symptomatic of the fact that SME are all too often overlooking the most valuable asset of all – their employees.
The upshot is that 45% of SMEs do not believe they have equipped their workforce with the technology to reach their full potential. Only 37% of SMEs say that their workforce are fully equipped to work where and when they want, while just 4 out of 10 say that they provide the training and career development to maximise their workforce’s potential.
In a recent survey for communications company Aavaya, 92% of UK workers said they would find it attractive to work for a company that offered flexible working and 78% said they would consider changing jobs for the chance to work flexibly. Without the requisite tools, understanding and investment to thrive or survive, SMEs ignoring these sentiments risk losing their most unique proposition – the human talent that had previously been attracted away from the corporate world to seek a more exciting and fulfilling working life.
Extract from: A Guide To Plain Sailing Through The Recession - Plantronic
s - www.plantronics.com.
The full guide can be downloaded here: http://www.sme-guide.co.uk/
www.ukba.co.uk
Businesses that are fully enabled for remote and mobile working said that they are more than twice as likely to review their business plan on a monthly basis compared to those firms that have enabled none of their staff for mobile working (34% compared to 16%).
In general we found also that SMEs that have fully mobile workforces are 10% less likely to have been hit by the slowdown and are also 60% more likely to forecast turnover growth compared to SMEs that do not enaAble mobile working.
These figures are symptomatic of the fact that SME are all too often overlooking the most valuable asset of all – their employees.
The upshot is that 45% of SMEs do not believe they have equipped their workforce with the technology to reach their full potential. Only 37% of SMEs say that their workforce are fully equipped to work where and when they want, while just 4 out of 10 say that they provide the training and career development to maximise their workforce’s potential.
In a recent survey for communications company Aavaya, 92% of UK workers said they would find it attractive to work for a company that offered flexible working and 78% said they would consider changing jobs for the chance to work flexibly. Without the requisite tools, understanding and investment to thrive or survive, SMEs ignoring these sentiments risk losing their most unique proposition – the human talent that had previously been attracted away from the corporate world to seek a more exciting and fulfilling working life.
Extract from: A Guide To Plain Sailing Through The Recession - Plantronic
s - www.plantronics.com.
The full guide can be downloaded here: http://www.sme-guide.co.uk/
www.ukba.co.uk
Sunday, 1 March 2009
Recession Insights - Planning & Strategy
The message is clear. Businesses that review their business plans monthly are most likely to be riding the economic storm. According to our research, they are 42% more likely to be unaffected or booming during the slowdown. Businesses who are confident about the future are also three times more likely to have had a strategy in place for a worsened economic climate than those who fear for their survival.
One in twenty SMEs admitted that they don’t really have a business plan of any description (never mind a revised strategy for a global slowdown) while 17% said that their business plan only gets reviewed and revised once a year. At the root of this problem is the fact that 62% of all SMEs have never had to face a slowdown before. They never really needed a plan when times were good, and never anticipated that they would need one for the future. Six out of ten SMEs did not have a plan or strategy in place for a worsened economic climate.
A worrying trend for the wider economy, and indeed the future, is that the ‘young guns’ who have thrived for the past decade or more through good economic conditions were least likely to have put a strategy in place for bleaker times. Two thirds did not have a plan ready for harsher times, compared to 40% of 55 year olds, who by virtue of their age and experience, have seen something similar (if even vaguely) before. The younger working nation have much to learn from mentors of previous slowdowns and recession.
Extract from: A Guide To Plain Sailing Through The Recession - Plantronics - www.plantronics.com.
The full guide can be downloaded here: http://www.sme-guide.co.uk/
www.ukba.co.uk
One in twenty SMEs admitted that they don’t really have a business plan of any description (never mind a revised strategy for a global slowdown) while 17% said that their business plan only gets reviewed and revised once a year. At the root of this problem is the fact that 62% of all SMEs have never had to face a slowdown before. They never really needed a plan when times were good, and never anticipated that they would need one for the future. Six out of ten SMEs did not have a plan or strategy in place for a worsened economic climate.
A worrying trend for the wider economy, and indeed the future, is that the ‘young guns’ who have thrived for the past decade or more through good economic conditions were least likely to have put a strategy in place for bleaker times. Two thirds did not have a plan ready for harsher times, compared to 40% of 55 year olds, who by virtue of their age and experience, have seen something similar (if even vaguely) before. The younger working nation have much to learn from mentors of previous slowdowns and recession.
Extract from: A Guide To Plain Sailing Through The Recession - Plantronics - www.plantronics.com.
The full guide can be downloaded here: http://www.sme-guide.co.uk/
www.ukba.co.uk
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