Stephen Malkin (Kings Lynn)

In 2016, new legislation came into force which meant that councils now have a duty to grant planning permission to appropriate serviced plots as part of the ‘Right to Build’ entitlement. This was part of the government’s solution to tackling housing shortages across the country – the objective was to double the value of the…

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As we approach the 1 April 2019 deadline for the introduction of MTD compliant VAT submissions, many businesses will at last be focusing on what solution they should adopt.   If their current bookkeeping system does not already have an upgrade that automatically provides this new functionality, they will be considering adopting ‘bridging software’.   Looking through…

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  Borrowing to build Self-builders require more money up front than conventional homebuyers. This is because they have to buy their building plots and fund their planning applications before they can apply for any loans. Self-build mortgages tend to be interest-only as fixed-rate loans have substantial exit fees for those who change loans when the…

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Builders will probably now be aware that the basis for calculating how much their annual payment is under the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has recently changed:     Old Basis New Basis Levy on employees 0.5% 0.5% Levy on labour only sub-contractors 1.25% 0% Levy on payments to sub-contractors with Net CIS status 0%…

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Making Tax Digital: Prepare or man the barricades! HM Revenue & Customs have just published their second webinar on their Making Tax Digital (MTD) project, including a plethora of questions and answers. While the tone was very touchy-feely, as the presenters talked about the HMRC’s “customers”, the underlying iron fist could clearly be sensed: Yes,…

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Sage Launch Cloud Product: 4th time lucky? Despite dominating the SME on-premises accounting software market for over 25 years, Sage have struggled to find traction in the brave new world of cloud hosting. Initial attempts at licensing its best selling Sage50 software through the specialist hoster, Online<>50, gained little traction. The subsequent launch of the same product…

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2015: How was it for your business? As another calendar year passes, many SME’s will have also passed another financial year end. They will now therefore be assessing how growth was for them last year, and what budget they should set for 2016.  Overall, local SME’s averaged growth of just 0.7% during 2015. They were…

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Slow Broadband: £3k grants available. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport have grants available for up to £3,000 to cover the broadband installation costs of upgrading to a faster and more reliable connection for your business. They say you could get a fibre optic, cable or wireless broadband connection,n amongst other options.  Most businesses…

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SME Cyber Security: £5k grants available. Small and micro-sized businesses can apply for government vouchers of up to £5,000 for specialist advice to boost their cyber security, and to protect new business ideas and intellectual property. The vouchers enable businesses to access services from the UK cyber security industry. This new scheme will also help…

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Pay Suppliers Electronically: Beware fraudsters. Do you hold your suppliers bank details on file – one tactic recently used by fraudsters is to advise businesses of changes to a supplier’s bank details, they then wait until a genuine purchase invoice is paid. Unfortunately because the supplier’s bank details are compromised, the payment goes to the…

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