Business | SMEs plan to hire more staff as confidence returns

 Half of UK SMEs, 56%, expect to recruit more staff over the next year with 60% of SMEs intending to invest in their businesses, with only 20% intending to borrow, according to the Azets’ SME Barometer

9 Aug 2021

Business

Companies

Business | Charity Commission launches inquiry into Care4Calais

The Charity Commission has announced an inquiry into the finances of aid charity Care4Calais stating that there are 'serious governance concerns'

9 Aug 2021

Business

Companies

Charities

Business | Directors banned for 25 years due to £176k loans

Peterborough-based mechanics and motor parts suppliers have been banned from running companies for a total of 25 years after the pair provided false documents to secure £176,000 worth of loans

9 Aug 2021

Business

Companies

Called to Account

Business | Job starting salaries are rising at record rates

Starting salaries, permanent staff appointments and temporary billings have all risen to near-record rates, according to the latest KPMG and Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) UK report

6 Aug 2021

Business

Companies

Accountancy Firms

| Office summer parties should get tax break

Blick Rothenberg is calling on HMRC to relax strict staff entertaining rules for employees to help kick start the return back to the office after the Covid-19 pandemic 

6 Aug 2021

Tax

Business

Companies

| Half of businesses ignore climate risk reporting

 Nearly half of organisations, 48%, do not include climate risks in their business risk reports, with over half, 53% not having a dedicated executive leader accountable for sustainability and climate risk reporting, NAO report reveals

6 Aug 2021

Auditing

Business

Companies

Business | Government-backed insurance scheme for events industry

In a bid to support the live events sector, the government has launched a specific insurance scheme worth over £750m to protect against covid related cancellations

6 Aug 2021

Business

Companies

Business | People in the news: KPMG, French Duncan, Scholes, Xeinadin

In this week’s accountancy career moves, senior partner appointment at KPMG, director hires at Scholes Chartered Accountants, Menzies and French Duncan, and chief financial officer appointment at Xeinadin Group

6 Aug 2021

Business

Companies

Accountancy Firms

Careers

Leadership & Management

Business | Fraud cases in court double in the last year

 The number of fraud cases seen in UK courts has doubled to 151 cases in the six months compared to just 76 last year, although the value of fraud has dropped 70% to just under £140m from £460m

6 Aug 2021

Business

Companies

Accountancy Firms

Business | Sunak and Johnson urge City to invest in British business

The Prime Minister and Chancellor has called on UK’s institutional investors to invest money into businesses and infrastructure to create an ‘Investment Big Bang’ to help the UK economy recover from the pandemic

5 Aug 2021

Business

Companies

Pensions

Tax | Employers ‘named and shamed’ for paying less than minimum wage

The government has named and shamed 191 employers who have underpaid workers, including major household names, as companies failed to pay £2.1m to over 34,000 workers due the national minimum wage 

5 Aug 2021

Tax

HMRC

Business

Companies

Business | One in five companies considering redundancies

 The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has warned that there could be high levels of unemployment as one in five companies are considering making redundancies as the furlough scheme begins to wind down

4 Aug 2021

Business

Companies

Business | 660k jobs at risk when furlough ends

 Around 660,000 jobs will likely still need furlough when the scheme ends in September with thousands being pushed into unemployment if the government doesn’t extend it past the deadline

3 Aug 2021

Business

Companies

Business | Staff shortages threaten future SME growth

SME businesses remain optimistic about their post-pandemic recovery but staff shortages and concerns around rising inflation threaten future growth

3 Aug 2021

Business

Companies

Business | Only four companies left AIM in the last year

 Only four companies were forced to leave Alternative Investment Market (AIM) because of financial difficulties in the last 12 months which is the lowest since analysis’ began in 2006 according to UHY Hacker Young

3 Aug 2021

Business

Companies