During this month taxpayers across the UK will be receiving their new tax codes, to be effective as of 6 April 2016. ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is reminding taxpayers that it is their responsibility to make sure that the codes are correct, so they will be paying the right amount of tax. Chas Roy-Chowdhury, ACCA head of taxation, said: “The government has left HMRC (Her majesty’s Revenue and Customs) with a difficult job in respect of tax codes. The number of payments that are dependant on your tax band has increased since 2010 - for example child benefit and...
Established all-female network, Ladies do Latte, held its first Exeter event in the heart of the city on Tuesday 1st March at ‘Circa 1924’.
Responding to member needs, organisers Ashley Petrons and Christelle Bonnel of Make it Marketing chose to host the event at lunchtime, rather than the traditional mid-morning meeting. Christelle says, “Being marketers through and through, we have been asking members what they would like from the network. Of course, you can never please everyone, but by at least asking we’re in with a much better chance of success.”
South West independent accountancy firm Thomas Westcott has announced a merger with one of Plymouth's leading firms of chartered accountants and taxation advisers, Parkhurst Hill.
The merger sees Thomas Westcott's Plymouth-based staff move from the firm's Queen Anne Terrace location to Parkhurst Hill's offices in Plym House, Marsh Mills, bringing total headcount there to 35 including five partners.
In Plymouth the business will operate under the name Parkhurst Hill & Thomas Westcott.
Thomas Westcott was recently amongst the finalists for Mid-Tier Accountancy...
Agri-tech specialists, a dairy farm and pop up caterers are amongst the firms that have made it to the final of Devon’s new Fast Track to Growth Programme, it was revealed today.
Fifteen companies across the county have been selected to progress on to the programme that will help them develop their plans for growth in 2016. One stands the chance of winning £15,000 worth of financial strategy, PR and marketing supporting for the rest of the year.
Shortlisted are Bluebird Care, Custodian Solutions, eCow Devon, Holiday Toys, OneFlow and Pickle Shack from Exeter, Care Control...
Southernhay Breakfast Club is a networking group for local business people who get together every few weeks on a Friday morning at the Southgate hotel in Exeter. Our guest speaker on 4th March is Karime Hassan, the Chief Executive of Exeter City Council who will give us an update on the latest plans for the city.
The Club is organised by volunteers Jonathan Wadsworth, (Beckworth Financial Services) and Adrian Hills (Kirk Hills Chartered Accountants). This friendly club has no membership fee and offers fascinating local speakers and the opportunity to network with other local...
Many businesses across the South West will face similar issues; they have employees but not the resource to employ someone full time to provide Human Resources support and advice. This is exactly where Westcountry HR fits in; we provide a flexible service that helps small businesses navigate the sometimes complex, and ever changing world of employment.
From employment contracts, employee handbooks and appraisals, through to how to handle performance or absence issues; we’ll be able to provide you with the support you need, when you need it....
Audit limits are going up so more private companies will have the option to dispense with the annual audit, so should they? Whilst there can, for the right business, be significant benefits to becoming a limited company there have always been downsides and one of these is increased external scrutiny of the company finances. This is, if you like, part of the price to be paid for that “limited liability” enjoyed by the shareholders of such companies. The primary form of external scrutiny has for many years taken the form of an external audit which is undertaken by a firm of suitably...
The South West has seen some of the biggest increases in the number of high growth firms in the whole of the UK since the recession, new research shows. Analysis by the Enterprise Research Centre (ERC), the UK’s leading independent institute for research into small and medium size businesses, shows that the number of ‘high-growth firms’ (HGFs) across the UK has risen to 11,855 – the largest number since the dotcom boom of the early 2000s. According to the OECD’s definition, a HGF is a firm that has at least 10 employees and records an annual average growth of 20% in employment over three...
Companies across Devon are being offered the chance to take part in the county’s first Fast Track to Growth Programme to help them develop and implement plans for growth in 2016 – for free. Apply by 19 February, 5pm.
They will receive on-going advice from a range of specialists, and take part in workshops to develop their growth plans ready to then implement. All shortlisted applicants will also have the chance to pitch to a panel of judges, with one company securing a year’s worth of free financial strategy, marketing and PR support, worth £15,000.
