Income tax top rate reduction creates deferral opportunities
14th July 2012
IN RECENT weeks, there has been a media obsession with tax planning undertaken by celebrities ranging from Jimmy Carr to Take That to Wayne Rooney which has reignited a debate on the morals of...
A healthy pipeline of deals, says top corporate finance expert
23rd November 2011
Mr Standish, corporate finance partner at business advisers Mazars in Milton Keynes, is pictured receiving the award from Steve Howard, senior private banker at Coutts & Co. The...
Banks ‘still giving small firms a rough deal’, says new research
13th July 2011
An independent survey conducted by the BBA Taskforce - made up of the major banks, business organisations and trade bodies - shows that businesses with up to nine members of staff are most...
Investment deadline looms for ‘angels’
22nd March 2011
Angels4Bucks aims toi invest in a diverse portfolio of early-stage, high-growth, unquoted companies based in Milton Keynes. Requests for funding are welcomed from all sectors. The EIS...
FSA fines finance firm over pension switching advice
4th March 2011
A FSA investigation found that Perspective Financial Management, whose Milton Keynes office is at Wolverton Mill, had given unsuitable advice in five out of nine cases reviewed. PFM made...
The economy: reasons to be cheerful
7th January 2011
A LOSS of market confidence or further problems in the financial system could still derail the UK’s fragile recovery. But it is still worth offering some potential positive news for...
One year’s salary: the cost of replacing staff
13th October 2010
As the economy begins to recover, businesses are looking to maintain or grow their staff numbers. Yet the cost of replacing employees who resign for employment elsewhere could amount to the...
Banking sector needs more competition, say small firms
30th September 2010
The message was sent in the Federation of Small Businesses’ response to the consultation 'Financing a privates sector recovery'. A decade ago, the Cruickshank Report found that the...
Business backs call to raise VAT to 20% in emergency Budget
15th June 2010
A total 61% of the 202 executives polled by Opinion Leader Research on behalf of business advisers KPMG said that on the assumption that tax rises would be necessary in the Budget, a VAT rise...
Time to get on with the business of business
28th May 2010
IT IS STILL early days for our new coalition government and while a number of actions have been taken - not least announcements on public sector cuts - it is probably not easy for us to grasp...
Ignore the Budget at your peril
14th April 2010
For most, the Chancellor’s 2010 Budget had little or no substance, with the focus on a forthcoming election as opposed to addressing the state of the economy. The danger is that...
Late payment hits survival prospects, says research
5th November 2009
Figures from chartered accountants and business advisers Baker Tilly’s Finance Director Survey show that 41 per cent of those questioned reported late payment as a major issue. The figure...
Tips to ease VAT burden
7th August 2009
Neil Jennings, of business advisers Mazars, outlines nine potential approaches to reducing your organisation's VAT burden. 1 Subject to specific conditions, some...