Chamberlain Mcbain

Financial Ombudsman Service Available for UK Small Businesses
It’s good news for UK small businesses; the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed last week that the Financial Ombudsman Service will soon be able to be leveraged by SMEs. The change comes after a long list of differences keep rising to the surface particularly within the business banking world (think recent HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland dishonours).
The changes are packaged up in the FCA’s new “near-final ...rules” which currently is looking to increase the maximum amount of compensation the ombudsman asks financial services companies to pay - up from £150,000 to £350,000. The final rules expected to be released and come into play by 1 April 2019.
Prior to this news, the ombudsman service was only available to individual consumers and some micro-businesses (ie. organisations with annual turnovers of less than £1.75m and fewer than 10 employees). However with the proposed changes, small businesses with an annual turnover of less than £6.5 million and less than 50 employees, or those SMEs with an annual balance sheet of £5 million or below will be eligible to escalate their unsettled disputes to the ombudsman.
FCA chief executive Andrew Bailey comments that “the changes we are making are as far as we think we should go within our powers, but they will provide access to the ombudsman service for a significant number of smaller businesses. Before this, their only option was potentially a costly legal one through the courts. We will work closely with them to ensure that they are ready so that SMEs are able to benefit from the new rules as soon as they come into force.”
The changes are estimated to impact approximately 210,000 SMEs across the UK who will be able to make use of the ombudsman services. This number includes a high number of charities and non-profits who will benefit greatly from this change.
https://www.cmcb.co.uk/blog.php#FinO
#Law #legal #UK #SME #FinancialOmbudsmanService
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FSB Advises UK Government: Late Payment Three-Point Plan
The Federation of Small Businesses, or the FSB for short, are calling out to the UK government loud and clear; make firm changes to enforced payment practices or risk more Carillion-style collapses.
It’s been a year now since the major construction company Carillion collapsed back in January 2018. Employing circa 43,000 people, it’s become one of Britain’s largest construction bankruptcies. The giant’s collapse showcase...d the drastic consequences and effect that late payments can have on companies; when Carillion went under, they owed approximately £2bn to some 30,000 suppliers.
Mike Cherry, National Chairman of the FSB, comments that: “The collapse of Carillion was a watershed moment that brutally exposed the shocking ways that some big businesses treat their suppliers. The construction giant used its dominant position to squeeze smaller firms with late payments and unreasonable payment terms in an attempt to shore up its own precarious position. These practices did not save them and their failure has resulted in very real human consequences. Many small businesses were left with nothing for the hard work they had undertaken beforehand and given nothing in compensation after. Some didn’t survive.”
Strong words, but there is undoubtedly a lot of truth in them. And so, the FSB is proposing the Government dive head first into a three-point plan that will stamp out the poor payment practices that seem to be taking over the way many businesses within the UK do business. The three-point plan calls for reforms on:
The Prompt Payment Code – introduce tougher penalties handed down by the Small Business Commissioner for companies that are found to be breaking this code. Project Bank Accounts – should be used, and used correctly, for all major public sector contracts; proper parliamentary accountability will help to keep them in check. Non-Executive Directors – those who are responsible for supply chain relationships and payment practices should also have positions on the board for big companies “These reforms are not the silver bullet that will immediately bring an end to the scourge of poor payment practices but they will certainly go a long way to achieving this”, Cherry said.
https://www.cmcb.co.uk/blog.php#3point
#Law #legal #UK #FSB #LatePayments #Carillon #Government #ThreePointPlan
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Business Booming; The Veganuary Trend
Keeping your business relevant to the times as well as to your audience is crucial no matter what industry you’re operating in. Society changes, the popularity of lifestyles ebb and flow and trends come and go. If you haven’t heard of Veganuary then I’m not sure where you have been over the beginning few weeks in January. It’s all across pretty much anywhere and everywhere you look; social media, television, newspapers, advertisements acr...oss bus shelters, posters pasted across buildings… the list goes on.
Veganuary calls for people to get behind the vegan trend, inspiring and supporting them to try vegan for the month of January and maybe even, if they can, to stretch it throughout the rest of the year. And so, I’ve seen many a business that I thought would be straggling behind to grasp this concept of plant-based living paving the way. Showing them how it can be done. Not to mention the amount of profit that there can be in it.
The world is continuing to change, and so is the demand from what consumers are willing to engage in. Take Greggs for example, the largest bakery chain in the UK. Basically an institution in the north of England, they specialise in savoury meat and pastry baked products such as sausage rolls, pies and pasties. Now however, they also provide the option of a vegan sausage roll. It hit the shelves on January 3rd, which was no coincidence; Gregg’s wanted it to be available for the beginning of Veganuary. Their vegan sausage rolls have been selling out across their stores and they simply can’t keep up with the demand.
Greggs shares have increased by nearly 7% to an all-time high of £14.61. Chief executive of Greggs, Roger Whiteside, commented that “it’s literally flying off the shelves. I think it demonstrates how our business has changed. In the year ahead we will continue to innovate with products designed to reflect changing consumer tastes and by opening in new locations that make Greggs even more accessible to customers.”
#law #legal #Vegan #Veganuary #UK #Greggs
https://www.cmcb.co.uk/blog.php#greggs
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No Shortages of Skills Shortages
Big or small, if you’re running a business within the UK manufacturing or services industries, chances are you may have found yourself struggling with being able to find the right staff with the right skills of late. With UK employment rates being at their highest since 1971, and unemployment rates at their lowest since 1975, these positive statistics mean that companies need to present attractive packages to prospective employees now more tha...n ever, be it higher salaries and wages, incentives and perks. But you have to have the right prospective employees around to entice after all.
It’s news to no one that since the Brexit vote to leave the EU was thrown down, the numbers of EU27 nationals who are immigrating to the UK to live and work has been on the decrease. In fact, net migration from Europe to the UK is currently at the lowest point it has been in the last six years. This is a reflection one would think of both the uncertainty that hangs in the air thanks to Brexit as well as a weakening and volatile pound.
And now, reports from a British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) survey that involved over 6,000 respondents from across the country tell a loud tale of many businesses struggling to find the skilled staff they need. In the latter half of 2018, more than 80% of UK businesses within the manufacturing industry found it hard to find the specialist staff with the specialist skill sets that they were after. Furthermore, 70% of businesses within the service industry complained of the same struggle.
The UK government are currently getting all their ducks in a row in regards to the restrictions that will be placed on EU nationals working in the UK after the Brexit sun sets. It’s looking likely that immigration from the EU will be cut by 80% as well as minimum salary thresholds being extended. One does wonder just how the new restrictions will affect UK businesses when it comes to recruiting for specialist skill sets.
Director General of the BCC, Adam Marshall, comments that “business concerns about the government’s recent blueprint for future immigration rules must be taken seriously – and companies must be able to access skills at all levels without heavy costs or bureaucracy.”
#UK #Business #Brexit #SkillsShortage #Manufacturing #Immigration #Law #Legal
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Staying Connected: The IT Tech Pains of 2018
As the year comes to an end, I always love a good reflection on the year that has been and is, in a matter of days, gone. I recently stumbled upon a survey that highlights the three main technical issues which UK SME owners and management claim have been their biggest technical, or IT tribulations, during 2018. In short, internet issues, GDPR compliance and cybersecurity.
... A deeper dive into the 2018 survey, conducted by the tech company Q2Q, shows that:
52% of small business owners experienced issues with their internet such as slowness, drop-outs and general instability 41% said that GDPR compliance was still a cause for concern within their business, stating that even though it was introduced some six months ago there is still an air of confusion surrounding it 36% of management stress in SMEs was attributed to cybersecurity worries 38% reported that the most common scam emails were either emails from foreign billionaires or fake financial requests Managing Director at Q2Q Andrew Stellakis has said that “hearing that internet issues are still responsible for over half of SME’s IT-related headaches is simply inexcusable in this day-and-age. There are plenty of things which can cause a slow connection, but understanding the root cause is key to getting the most out of our systems, employees and the working day.”
Whether you are a freelancer, or remote worker, or working from home, the library or local cafes that are your office. While I can definitely say I experience internet dropouts at home (no name shall be mentioned as to who my internet provider is), when I’m in the centre of town at a library or on a business premises, I expect the internet to always stay connected and be flowing at high speeds. I’m emailing documents, uploading to the Cloud, downloading from shared drives, messaging, chatting, video calling – the list goes on. For those that work in a more traditional office setting, it’s exactly the same only on a bigger scale; storing and retrieving important documents from cloud-based servers, video conferencing, emailing; being connected to the internet is the oxygen which helps small businesses breath in the modern business world.
https://www.cmcb.co.uk/blog.php#connected
#law #legal #tech #smallbusiness #UK #SME #internet
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The Export Effects of Brexit
Between a hard Brexit or a soft Brexit, the Norway option, the Singapore option, deals and no deals… how Brexit is actually going to play out over the next few months is anyone’s guess. This uncertainty over the future of UK and the EU plays havoc in the business world. Trying to cover all the bases of possible eventualities is pretty much impossible. Business owners around the country have needed to stay alert since the vote to leave was thrown d...own back in 2016, devising plans and preparing as much as possible for every possible scenario which could play out.
For those businesses that trade with the EU, Brexit throws an extremely large spanner into the mix. The Guardian published an interesting story last week about a Bristol-based online retailer who has sat in a state of limbo for many, many months. With a staff number of 85, unless there is a “Christmas Brexit miracle” (as he called it), he said he will be looking to relocate a large part of his business to Germany because of looming export tariffs to the EU. In fact, he’s already established an office in Bucharest, Romania’s booming capital, with seven staff. While for his UK-based team, he anticipates that come January, the company will have to start making staff redundant, ramping up the European-division and downscaling the British.
Financial Secretary to the Treasury Mel Stride comments that “those who are importing or exporting into and out of the EU 27, in the unlikely event that there is a no-deal at the end of March, will need to take certain steps. They need to do that now." He advises that businesses should "get a customs agent on board" or "look at the software they can use to make sure (of) their import and export declarations".
https://www.cmcb.co.uk/blog.php#brexit1