7th Mar 2025
How to Save Tax on Private School Fees Using a Family Trust – Especially as VAT on Fees Rises Private school fees in the UK are already a significant financial commitment, and with the planned introduction of VAT on private school fees, the cost is set to rise even further. However, with careful tax planning, […]
19th Mar 2021
Having just read that sentence, I suspect there are many freelancers, independent consultants and contractors whose blood just froze. IR35 rules are like the killer in a low budget horror film. Just when you thought they were finally gone, they jump out to scare the pants off you, again. Well, sorry folks, it’s back. […]
5th Mar 2021
There was a time when outsourcing got a bad rap, often deserved. The term became associated with firms moving their call centres to far-flung locations or worse, getting a third party to support a firm’s IT. In both cases, it never went as smoothly as planned with poor customer service and interminable waits to get […]
25th Feb 2021
Some may have read the recent comments by BOE Chief Economist Andy Haldane in an article for the Daily Mail. He predicts the UK’s vaccination successes will soon develop into a dramatic spending spree as we emerge from the grind of Covid lockdowns. He said: “A decisive corner is about to be turned for the […]
7th Jan 2021
I hope you enjoyed my recent blog on how the lockdowns have inspired me, my family and my business. It was useful to reflect on the many learning points that the trials of 2020 have offered and to find some unexpected but welcome optimism. How many times have we heard the terms ‘unprecedented,’ ‘once in a […]
29th Dec 2020
It’s been a week or so since I released my first blog on the post-transition arrangements for UK businesses who trade internationally. As I write, we’ve literally just completed a deal with EU! Boris has done it! However the full details have yet to be made public with the transition date edging closer. There’s been […]
16th Dec 2020
As I write the UK and EU are in the final throws of trying to bash out a post-Brexit trade deal. The atmosphere is fraught with issues of fishing, state aid and the future governance of whatever arrangements they can hammer out (or otherwise). Whatever happens, things are going to change. Whether we get […]
23rd Nov 2020
In a break from the ongoing miseries of 2020, I thought it about time I returned to a theme I’ve explored a couple of times on my blog. As regular readers will know I’m a big fan of electric vehicles (EVs) and of innovative, well-designed products. Well, recently, I’ve been reading about something that neatly […]
5th May 2020
So, we’ve now spent a good couple of months in Coronavirus UK, and the various human and financial tolls are mounting up. Sadly, it’s not a pretty picture with the terrible effects of the virus being writ large every day. More encouraging on the commercial side, there has been some useful interventions from the government. […]
30th Mar 2020
I sincerely hope this update finds you well. It’s an understatement to say what we’re experiencing is outside of anything our society has faced before and the measures announced from the government to shore up our economy and support our communities are equally astonishing. I covered some of these in my last update. Well, one […]