Top Tax Tip
If you are a Sole Trader, have you considered taking your spouse into partnership?
Tip: Care must be taken to ensure that the share of profits your spouse receives is relative to the share of their involvement.
|
|
|
Quote Of The Week
| "It's
unwise
to
pay too much
but it's unwise to pay too little.
When you
pay too much
you lose a little money, that
is
all.
When you pay too little, you
sometimes lose everything, because the thing you
bought was incapable of doing the thing you
bought it to
do.
The common
law of business
balance prohibits paying a little and getting a
lot.
It can't
be
done.
If you deal
with the lowest
bidder, it's well to add
something for the risk you
run.
Andif you
do that, you
will have enough
to pay
for something
better!"
John Ruskin
|
|
|
If you found this information valuable, please forward this email onto a friend or colleague.
If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe here
|
|
|
|
Greetings!
Firstly, we would like to thank Peter Anscomb, who recommended the quote of the week for this Newsletter. We would also like to congratulate Sally Mercier, who won last week's BrainTeaser!
|
You are on your way to visit your Grandma, who lives at the
end of the valley. It's her birthday, and you want to give her the cakes you've
made.
Between your house and her house, you have to cross 7 bridges, and as it goes
in the land of make believe, there is a troll under every bridge! Each troll,
quite rightly, insists that you pay a troll toll. Before you can cross their
bridge, you have to give them half of the cakes you are carrying, but as they
are kind trolls, they each give you back a single cake.
How many cakes do you have to leave home with to make sure that you arrive at
Grandma's with exactly 2 cakes?
Click here to email us the answer!
|
What will the Coalition Government's first Budget bring?
Last week, our new Chancellor, George Osbourne, announced that his
first budget date will be on the 22nd June. Since then, there
has been much speculation as to what this has in store for us. Below
are just a few things I've come across:
Personal Allowances - Before Election Day, it was
well published that the Liberal Democrats wanted a £10,000 personal
allowance; and we know that this was one of the concessions agreed under
the new coalition government. The aim of this is to help low and
middle earners, so I would expect it to be capped at a certain level of
income. This is expected to come into effect during 2011.
To read the rest of this article, please click here
|
Client Spotlight - Constructive Purchasing Ltd
Hi, I'm Stephen Howell, and I'm Managing Director of
Constructive Purchasing Ltd.
My business is a purchasing management consultancy that
offers solutions to small and medium-sized companies on ways to improve their
purchasing, and therefore to make savings and increased revenues. The company
utilises business processes and supplier networks gained from many years of
experience working with large multi nationals.
Constructive Purchasing has been trading for 1 year, and we
are a Limited company. I personally have over 30 years experience in
purchasing, gained in manufacturing, engineering and service industries;
working with companies such as Thomson, EDO, The Walt Disney Company, Morgan
Stanley, RBS and KPMG.
My main competitors would be other buying agencies or
consultancies, however what makes my company special is that I promote common
sense solutions not advocate a multitude of processes that are complicated, and
ultimately costly, for small return. I
look at a business's purchasing needs and respond with solutions that return
savings, reduce time, enhance quality, but above all are based on common sense
and that are sustainable and not one-off quick fixes.
My five-year plan is to grow the business, and have multiple
repeat clients that see the benefits of using a consultancy that returns
quantifiable results. I want to also be able to employ staff and widen the base
within which my company operates.
Because the company is only one year old, Keepers have been
able to help with my tax and VAT issues, liaise on my behalf with the Revenue,
and take on that responsibility, allowing me to concentrate on my Clients.
"Stephen is one of the rare breed of procurement professionals that
understands and demonstrates leading edge thinking in the capital/construction
arena. A respected member of the team, well grounded with a calm influencing
style." Damon Jones, Head of
Commercial - Interim (working on sale of Gatwick Airport
project), BAA plc
Website: www.constructivepurchasing.com
Email
: info@constructivepurchasing.com
Phone:
+44 (0) 1273 841 806
Mobile:
+44 (0) 7736 894 010
|
Personal Financial Planning and Wealth Management - From Mercier Allen Associates
Each
person has their own way at looking at life and their own set of unique
circumstances; therefore we believe that it is essential that you obtain
professional advice when it comes to generating an income for your retirement.
If your pension fund cash is due to mature in the next twelve months, make sure
you talk to us sooner rather than later to help ensure that you don't miss out
on the best pension arrangement available for your requirements. You will find a link to our Magazine below, and on page 4, we
explain why converting pension savings into an income is probably the most
important financial decision you will ever make - and there is no second chance if you get it wrong.
There is no one investment strategy that suits everyone and
your decisions on how to
divide up your investment portfolio into different types of
investmentcould change over time. If appropriate to your particular situation, now
may be a good time to reconsider your attitude towards risk for return and give
some thought to whether the structure of your portfolio is still in line with
your wishes or whether your investment attitude has changed. Find out more on
page 7.
Some major
tax changes that had been announced in previous Budgets came into effect on 6
April 2010. From 6 April, income tax has been set at 50 per cent on earnings
above £150,000. In addition, income tax allowances and bands have been frozen -
meaning that everyone will pay more tax on their earnings if they receive a pay
rise. Read the full article on
page 8.
A full
list of all the articles featured inside this edition appears on page
3.
01403 268562
www.mercierallen.co.uk
sally.mercier@mercierallen.co.uk
|
|
Thanks for reading. You can find us on our website, Facebook, Twitter or
LinkedIn; just click the relevant link at the top of the Newsletter.
Ben
& Chris
|
|
|
