Business groups have responded to the key announcements made in Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Autumn Budget speech. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) welcomed the reforms to the business rates system. Mike Cherry, its National Chairman, commented: FSB presented a series of reforms to the Chancellor to make the business rates system fit for the future,
Within his Autumn Budget speech, Chancellor Philip Hammond reported on an economy that continues to grow, continues to create more jobs than ever before and continues to confound those who seek to talk it down. However, in its report prepared for the Autumn Budget, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) revised down its outlook for
Chancellor Philip Hammond’s first Autumn Budget was delivered against a backdrop of economic and political turmoil, fuelled partly by ongoing uncertainty in the Brexit process. Acknowledging that the UK has entered a critical phase of negotiations, the Chancellor set out his vision of a new relationship with the European Union – though he was
A study carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has suggested that wage growth is set to ‘remain weak’. Pay rises for 2018 have been forecast at just 1%. The study attributes the subdued forecast to an increase in labour supply over the past year. Meanwhile, 23% of private sector
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called on the government to consider whether forthcoming rises in the National Living Wage (NLW) rate may need to be delayed if the economy cannot bear the pace of change. By 2020, the NLW will have risen to £8.75 per hour. The business group has suggested that any
A lack of funding was cited by 40 per cent of Britons as the biggest barrier to starting a business A new study demonstrating the long-term potential of shoestring startups founded on tight budgets has challenged the expectation that a business needs significant financial backing to succeed. The research, undertaken by Yell Business ahead
high street shoppers Some 40 per cent of shoppers would choose to shop in a store with an imaginative name over a generic one What’s in a name? The long-term success of a high street store, according to a new study revealing the UK’s best small business names. As a new founder, key early decisions might
The UK campaign will celebrate its fifth anniversary in December This year’s UK-wide Small Business Saturday campaign will take place on Saturday 2 December, it has been announced. The campaign, originally founded in the US by American Express in 2010, celebrates Britain’s small and micro businesses and encourages consumers to spend more at small
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has launched a new Making Tax Digital for Business (MTDfB) pilot scheme, designed to ‘make it easier for customers to get their tax right’. The launch of the pilot scheme represents HMRC’s next step in moving taxpayers to a fully digital tax system. From April, businesses and their agents will
The Treasury Select Committee has requested an independent review into the estimated costs of mandatory quarterly tax reporting for small firms. The government’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) plans include requirements for small businesses to submit quarterly tax updates to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). However, many believe that the costs of the proposals to firms
