The Business Doctors will see you now! – Free one to one consultation via Zoom

Dear fellow business owner, I hope you and your family have managed to stay safe and well during the pandemic. This crisis has been a huge challenge for businesses regardless of size. A few have been allowed to continue trading, but a lot of companies were forced to lockdown and…

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Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (“CBILS”) – UPDATE “Bounce Back” Loan Scheme (“BBLS”) FAQs

Pamela Muir and Chris Allan at Thorntons, highlight the latest updates and changes. In response to criticism from business that the administration of the CBILS scheme has been too slow to meet their urgent need for funding, and although there have been over 20,000 loans made already, the Chancellor has…

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Redundancy during Coronavirus: Part 2: How do I select employees for redundancy?

In Part 1 of our series of blogs we looked at when a redundancy situation might arise and gave an overview of both individual consultation (where there are fewer than 20 proposed redundancies) and collective consultation (where there are 20 or more proposed redundancies). Employers may now be wondering how…

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Redundancy during coronavirus: Part 1: How Do I Deal With Collective Consultation?

At present the funding by the Government under the Job Retention Scheme is only set to last until the end of June. Inevitably, even once the current lockdown is lifted there will be a reduced need for some business services and some employers may require to look at making redundancies…

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Amid the billions of pounds being offered to keep businesses afloat, it is the gift of time which could prove most valuable, writes Claire Middlebrook

In scenes witnessed only a handful of times in history, the UK Government has pumped hundreds of billions on pounds into British businesses. Unprecedented sums are going towards wages, tax breaks and emergency loans as the government fights to ensure we have an economy to return to when this awful…

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Suspending the housing market is unprecedented, but it is temporary. Be assured, it will start again

By Eric Curran Property professionals who have been in the front line for a long period of time tend to become slightly battle-hardened and take the view that, whatever crisis comes around the corner, they have seen it all before. Well, not this time. Recessions and downturns have come and…

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COVID-19: ‘Cash is Reality’, don’t underestimate the CBILS Loan opportunity

Cash is Reality. There is an old adage that accountants often trot out to new business start ups. Turnover is vanity Profit is sanity Cash is reality In the current environment this adage takes on a whole new level of importance as the business community tries to make sense of…

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Changes to the Tapered Annual Allowance 2020/21

In the past few years there have been significant restrictions on the level of contributions that high earners can pay to their pension without incurring a tax charge.  This was due to the introduction of the Tapered Annual Allowance in April 2016. Because of this, many employers redesigned remuneration packages…

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Coronavirus feels a lot like grief

Coronavirus is beginning to feel a lot like grief. I speak from someone who knows a lot about grief. The death of my precious son when just 3 weeks old. The sudden death of my dad 5 years later and recently the loss of my dear mum after a battle…

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Outdoors circular innovation comes in from the cold

Mark Stewart 2020 was the winner of the Innovation in Circular Economy at this year’s Edinburgh Chamber Business Awards held in February. Mark Stewart “I have an interest in the outdoors and it is that interest in the natural environment which really drives my concern for responsible and sustainable practices.”…

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