There was commentary in the national press today that was cautiously optimistic that a number of COVID vaccines will be available for distribution early next year. This was underlined by confirmation that 40m doses are ring-fenced for the UK. Hopefully, those vulnerable to infection, and those in the front line, care and NHS workers, will

Unbelievably, it has been illegal to make phone calls or text while driving a car, but not illegal to play games or take photos. Clearly, this loophole is begging to be closed and new legislation proposed, 17 October 2020, will aim to do just that. A Government announcement says: People using a hand-held mobile phone

On Friday 9 October, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak announced an extension to the Job Support Scheme (JSS). The expanded scheme will include additional support for employees of businesses that are forced to close because of local or national lockdown measures. The extended scheme will run in parallel with the main JSS for 6 months from

The office of the Small Business Commissioner (SBC) was launched in December 2019. The SBC is an independent public body tasked with helping smaller businesses and covers the whole of the UK – England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The SBC focuses on the issue of late payments and payment practices. A new consultation has

Most practitioners would support their clients in setting up and maintaining rigorous credit control systems and yet may be far less strident when collecting hard-earned fees from clients. COVID restrictions make it even more important that firms tackle this issue head-on. The cumulative funding required to finance work-in-progress and debtors is a major issue. There

Many professionals such as accountants, lawyers and health professionals are required to make a subscription to a professional body or learned society. HMRC has recently published an updated list of the organisations that they will accept as valid professional bodies. This list is updated from time to time and the most recent update lists all

Your local Growth Hub will shortly be opening applications for a share of a new development grant targeted at SMEs (only applies to businesses based in England). The national budget is £20m and each Growth Hub will have its share to offer to businesses in their catchment area. Each business accepted will have access to

The government’s latest advice, as confirmed in the COVID-19 Secure guidelines for different types of workplaces, is that office workers who can work effectively from home should do so over the winter. However, anyone else who cannot work from home should go to their place of work, but employers should consult with their staff to

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has today delivered a statement to the House of Commons outlining plans to help protect jobs across the UK whilst the country faces a resurgence of coronavirus and a winter of uncertainty. The Chancellor was facing mounting pressure to reveal future changes as many of the schemes and reliefs previously announced

The UK government has published its assessment of border “difficulties” when the present transition period ends 31 December 2020. From that date, without the agreement of a future trading deal, and this is looking increasingly unlikely, the possibility of chaos at the ports is now an almost certainty. According to the report, 40% to 70%