Local businesses revisit the basics

 

Over 60 industry leaders from local and regional organisations came together at the latest Info2Grow event.

Local chartered accountants Stewart, Fletcher & Barrett, Lloyds TSB Commercial, Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council, Cambron Limited and the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce organised the event which took place yesterday at the Chase Hotel, Nuneaton.

The theme of this second Info2Grow event, which was sponsored by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), was ‘Revisiting the Basics’. Delegates were treated to a panel of experts who provided practical advice and information that businesses can use to help them prosper and grow. The panel included Paul Carvell (Stewart, Fletcher & Barrett), Alan Ison (Lloyds TSB Commercial), Adrian Young (FSB) and Carolyn Reily (Cambron Limited).

Topics at the event covered business planning, cashflow forecasts, company performance, essential business systems and marketing. There was an extensive Q&A session where attendees asked the panel their burning questions which included an interesting debate around their views on the most fundamental ingredient for growing a successful business.

Stewart, Fletcher & Barrett’s senior partner Paul Carvell said “It was great to see so many local businesses attending Info2Grow. The event was the ideal platform to encourage businesses to take a step back and review their business operations and to highlight the key elements that can help stimulate business growth.”

Due to the resounding success of the first two events, a third Info2Grow event will take place later this year. If you would like to be added to the invitation list, please contact Cheryl Mann by emailing cheryl.mann@sfb.uk.com.

 

Left-Right: Adrian Young (Federation of Small Businesses), Carolyn Reily (Cambron Ltd), Paul Carvell (Stewart, Fletcher & Barrett), Angela Tellyn (Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce), Alan Ison (Lloyds TSB) and Rose Selwyn (Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council).

SFB Sponsored Charity Golf Day

The SFB Group were the main sponsor at the Charity Pro Am Day held at Nuneaton Golf Club on Sunday 20^th May.

The day was an overwhelming success, and was considered by many, including the Midlands PGA, professionals and competitors, to be a very well run and supported competition.

A total of 40 teams enjoyed a golf course that was in great condition. The SFB Group entered three teams, with Dave Hawkins and Martin Lindsey’s teams coming 7^th & 8^th respectively.

The charity that has benefited this year is Macmillan Cancer Support. The money raised totalled £1,100 and this has been matched by Computacentre Limited, so a grand total of £2,000 will be donated to this well deserving charity.

The SFB Group were proud to support such a professionally run event and look forward to working with Nuneaton Golf Club and the PGA in the future.

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SFB Sponsors Charity PRO-AM

Nuneaton and Hinckley based accountants, business advisers and wealth managers, the SFB Group have been unveiled as headline sponsors for Nuneaton Golf Club’s Charity PRO-AM, which is taking place on 20th May 2012.

The SFB Group, which includes Stewart, Fletcher & Barrett Chartered Accountants is the largest independent accountants firm in the area. The firm specialise in helping small to medium sized businesses, clubs and associations get to grips with their accounts and taxation issues. The SFB Group also provides Wealth Management, Human Resources, Business Growth Support and Marketing services.

Paul Carvell, Senior Partner for the company, said: “We pride ourselves on understanding our clients’ needs and always deliver timely, tailored advice to improve our clients business and personal wealth. The SFB Group is also very active in the local area and is particularly proud to be sponsoring this important charity event.”

Mike Halliwell, PRO-AM event organiser commented “We are delighted to have the backing of The SFB Group,” he said. “We are looking forward to a long and enjoyable relationship with one of the areas leading businesses”.

The SFB Group are working closely with Mike and Craig Phillips, the PGA Director of Golf at Nuneaton Golf, to ensure a fantastic day is had by all. The money raised from this year’s event will go to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Career Opportunities at SFB

Stewart, Fletcher & Barrett (SFB) is a firm of chartered accountants established for nearly 60 years. Already the largest firm of accountants in Nuneaton, the SFB Group have grown by 120% in the past 5 years. Due to this exceptional growth we have opened an office in Hinckley and are currently looking to expand further by opening a third office in the West Midlands. This will provide a local base for clients in Warwickshire, Leicestershire and the West Midlands.  The SFB Group not only provides a wide range of accountancy services and tax solutions to businesses of all sizes but we also provide personal and business support in Wealth Management, Human Resources and Marketing Solutions.

SFB have the following vacancies

Trainee Accountants

Office Administrator (Nuneaton)

Receptionist – Maternity Cover to cover Maternity Leave (Hinckley)

Book Keeper(Nuneaton)

SFB Founder Passes Away

A founding partner of local accountants firm Stewart, Fletcher & Barrett (SFB) has died at the age of 83. 

Malcolm Fletcher, a well respected businessman, died peacefully on 24th April after a relatively short fight with liver cancer.

Malcolm, who was born in Tipton, set up the Nuneaton firm in 1955 with Alistair Stewart and Robin Barrett, and was instrumental in the company’s growth from the 1960′s to when he retired in the late 1980’s.

Malcolm was an only child and went to Dudley Grammar School – where ironically maths wasn’t one of his strong subjects!

After leaving school, Malcolm became a Sergeant in the Royal Ordinance Corp and at the time, was the youngest sergeant in the British Army. He then married his wife Betty in 1953. After being a husband and father, his biggest achievements in life were founding SFB and becoming a sergeant.

Malcolm was a keen golfer, who played off a handicap of two. He was also a season ticket holder and lifetime supporter of Wolverhampton Wanderers.  Malcolm was passionate about motor cruising and his pride and joy was a 32 foot boat, which he moored frequently on the Norfolk Broads and the Thames.

Malcolm resided in various UK places during his life, including a period of time spent in Cornwall and more locally, he lived at Sibson Manor.

Malcolm is survived by his wife Betty and his son Iain, and was a grandfather of three. A funeral service will take place on Wednesday 9th May at 12.45pm at Nuneaton Crematorium.

2012 Charity Campaign Launched

Nuneaton and Hinckley-based Chartered Accountants Stewart, Fletcher & Barrett (SFB), have kick-started their 2012 charity campaign with an Easter themed fun day.

SFB staff had the opportunity to dress more casually today in return for making a donation to the firms chosen charity, Help for Heroes. A hunt the Easter bunny competition and a homemade cake sale also helped to raise additional funds.

Help for Heroes was founded in 1997 to help the wounded Servicemen and women returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. Paul Carvell, SFB’s senior partner said: “We are pleased to be supporting Help for Heroes this year. It’s a charity that is close to our heart. Everyone who makes a donation, will make a huge difference to people’s lives, no matter how big or small that contribution is.”

The Easter fun day is the first of a series of events that SFB will be organising this year to raise money for Help for Heroes. For further information on SFB’s charity campaign, or for details on the services that SFB offer, please contact the main reception on 02476 384171.

 

 

Danielle Hibbett of SFB with the ‘Golden Egg’ – her prize for winning the hunt the Easter bunny competition

2012 Budget response from Stewart, Fletcher & Barrett

Stewart, Fletcher and Barrett urge businesses to stand up and be counted in response to an “irrelevant” Budget.

Unfortunately, despite the hype, Budget 2012 is largely an irrelevance. That’s not to say it doesn’t contain its share of headline grabbing announcements – it certainly does – the top rate of Income Tax to reduce to 45p from April 2013 and the top rate of Corporation Tax down to 24p. But welcome as some of those are, the reality is that we are facing an economic growth crisis. And while 10% of the solution to that crisis may come from Budgets, for the other 90% we must look to the region’s businesses.

The simple truth is that it is businesses and not Budgets that offer us the best hope of putting things right by replacing the jobs, income and wealth lost, and generating the extra taxes needed to sort out public finances. Budget measures such as the cut in corporation tax will only ever help a bit. It is how businesses respond that really matters, since they are the real engine of growth.  So for the good of us all, the region’s job and wealth creating businesses must now stand up and be counted as a matter of the utmost urgency.

Stewart, Fletcher and Barrett have issued a ‘Budget Special’ Ezine which provides a summary of the key points from the Chancellors budget statement. Visit http://www.sfb.uk.com/ezine.htm  to find out more.

OnLine sellers Offered Chance To Settle Tax Bills

People trading on the internet who haven’t paid all the tax they owe have been offered the opportunity to come forward and pay up under an HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) campaign.

Under the time-limited opportunity, the e-Markets Disclosure Facility, online marketplace traders can pay the tax they owe and benefit from lower penalties available to those who come forward, rather than wait for HMRC to catch up with them.

Marian Wilson, head of HMRC Campaigns, said:

“This campaign is part of a wider HMRC initiative to provide support and guidance to the public on tax evasion and is aimed at people using online marketplaces to buy and sell goods as a trade or business and who fail to pay the tax owed. Those who only sell a few items and who are not traders are unlikely to be liable to pay tax on what they sell and will not be targeted by this campaign” 

Under the opportunity, online marketplace traders can come forward at any time between 14 March and 14 June to tell HMRC they want to take part.

They then have until 14 September to give details of the tax owed and arrange for full payment, including any interest and penalty due. If they make a full disclosure of what they owe before 14 September, some will receive no penalty at all, with most receiving a penalty of no more than 10 per cent of the tax owed. After that date, using information pulled together from many different data sources, HMRC will investigate those who have failed to respond.

If you trade on the internet and want to be assured that you’re paying the right amount of tax, please contact SFB on 02476 384171.

STUDENTS – when an employer goes into liquidation

When an employer’s business goes into liquidation the employer may not send to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) the year end return forms P35 and P14 which show details of an individual’s student loan repayments deducted during the financial year.

HMRC needs this information to be able to tell the Student Loans Company (SLC) the amounts that have been deducted from each borrower’s earnings so that the SLC in turn can credit those amounts to their loan accounts.

In these circumstances HMRC will provide details of the student loan repayments to the SLC based on information in the borrowers form P60 and/or payslips evidence which the borrower will be asked to provide.

If no P60 or payslip evidence is available HMRC may ask the borrower to contact the liquidator to extract the relevant student loan repayment information from the employer payroll records. Any formal documentation showing repayment deductions will be considered by way of evidence to help HMRC determine and report any student loan deductions to the SLC.

If you require any help please contact our friendly team at Stewart, Fletcher & Barrett  on 024 7638 4171

Record Amount File Tax returns

A record 9.45 million Self Assessment tax returns were filed on time this year!

This means that for the first time in seven years, 90.4 per cent of taxpayers met the deadline – an increase of four per cent (700,000 returns) on last year. In fact, it’s the highest on-time filing result since HMRC was created.

The busiest day for online returns was 31 January, when HMRC received nearly 445,000. The Self Assessment rush hour occurred between 4pm and 5pm on 31 January, when 37,460 returns – more than one every 6 seconds – were received by HMRC.

David Gauke, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said:
“I’m delighted so many people filed their tax returns online this year. The record number proves that it’s quick, easy and secure to do.

“HMRC have always been clear that they want returns not penalties, so it is good news that over 90 per cent of all returns were submitted on time.

“I am also pleased that the extension to the filing deadline prevented people from being unfairly penalised if they were unable to speak to HMRC on the 31st.”

Many took advantage of the Christmas holidays to wrap up their returns this year, with 1,100 people filing online on Christmas Day; 3,512 on Boxing Day; 11,648 on New Year’s Eve; and 8,935 on New Year’s Day. In fact, 102 people put the New Year celebratory champagne on ice to file their return between 11pm and midnight on 31 December 2011.

The total number of returns submitted on time for both online and paper was 9.4 million – breaking 9 million for the first time.

if you would like to speak with someone at Stewart Fletcher & Barrett about any aspects to do with your tax return or accounts, please call our team on 024 7638 4171