2010 remains a consistent year for small business in the UK.
Posted: 15/07/2010 Filed under: Investment, Moving to London, UK Investment | Tags: business concerns, Small Business, uk investments Leave a comment »Data has been released from the British Banking Association that the total value for around 10,000 new term loans to small businesses in the May was £523 million. This, apparently, is a drop from May 2009 where this figure was around £600 million.
Banks who have been releasing loans in accordance with BBA’s statistics are The Co-operative Bank, Santander UK (including Alliance & Leicester), Barclays, Clydesdale (including Yorkshire Bank), HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group (including HBOS) and Royal Bank of Scotland (including NatWest).
On average, the new loan is approximately £50,000 and usually more than ten years duration, with varied interest rates.
Small business loans hold a large chunk of the banking industry, with total term lending standing at £46 billion and this is supplemented by over £8 billion of over draft borrowing.
All of these facts and figures may show a small loss in the small business economy but as the British Banking Director Dooks said “New term lending to small businesses is stable and continuing at more than £500m a month.”
Dooks also went on to say “Higher repayments from businesses looking to contain their operating costs are countering new lending, so negative net changes in the banks’ lending portfolio are a consequence. Until an improvement in economic trading conditions looks more certain, small businesses’ borrowing will remain subdued.”
I believe the Director has a valid point, there is an encouraging stability in the British small business market; the figures speak for themselves.
Gambling Pair Take a Punt On Settlement
Posted: 11/05/2010 Filed under: Investment, Remote Gambling License, Small Business, Uncategorized | Tags: gambling, gambling laws, gambling sites, uk investments Leave a comment »A very interesting UK gambling story this week. Or at least a story that involves UK gambling companies.
In The Times this week I noticed a story on two UK gambling firms that have decided to take their chances in court. Richard Segal, the former chief executive of PartyGaming, and Stephen Hill, former chief executive of Betfair, have chosen to fight one of Britain’s oldest private equity companies over monies they believe are owed to them in unpaid bonuses.
The pair were bought in by 3i to run a fund that was later closed and the two men forced to forego certain performance bonuses that they had been promised. It seems that the crux of the two business mens argument is that they were both very successful before they got involved with 3i and that it is therefore reasonable to say that the fault for the poor performance of the fund lay elsewhere.
Each man claims to be owed around 3 million pounds by 3i. A quite hefty chunk of change indeed.
It will be interesting to see if their gamble pays off.
In the meantime the gambling business, especially offshore companies continue to be a good bet in the UK. If you want some advice on how to set one up we would be happy to help.
Breath Of Fresh Air On Immigration in The UK
Posted: 21/04/2010 Filed under: Moving to London, UK Company Set Up, UK election, UK Immigration | Tags: business, business concerns, Immigration, Moving to London, moving to the UK, moving to UK, uk investments Leave a comment »If you have been following the UK election in any way then you will be aware that there is talk of a hung parliament. Leaving aside for a moment how this will affect the world’s perception of Britain, there other interesting implications. One is the amount of power a hung parliament will hand to Nick Clegg and his Lib Dem party. I have been looking more closely at this party lately given their possible influence over Britain in the near future and one of the things I like the most about them is their attitude to immigration into the UK.
Nick Clegg recently suggested an amnesty on foreign workers who are already earning a living in the UK. Why not I say? We have amnesties on truly dangerous things such as guns and things that are actually costing the country money such as tax evasion, so why not one for people who are working hard and actually contributing to our economy?
As a aside it is interesting to me that some of the paper in this country have chosen to see this suggested amnesty as being weak on immigration. This astounds me. Surely even those with an issue with immigration can see that the most productive members of our foreign communities should be the ones being encouraged to stay? I suspect that most of the public does see it this way but then that would not sell papers so the media have chosen a different spin.
If you are considering moving to Britain to be a productive member of our great country or even just investing in our fast recovering economy then please give us a ring here at St Matthew’s eAccounting we would love to help you with your plans.
Housing Market Quiet and Subdued
Posted: 20/04/2010 Filed under: Small Business, UK Investment, Uncategorized | Tags: business, business concerns, Moving to London, moving to UK, Small Business, uk investments, uk property Leave a comment »I always take a real interest in the housing market because so many of my clients have their business interests in this area. As I have been looking through the stories coming out of this sector in the last few weeks I have started to become a little confused. I know there are a fair few things up in the air at the moment but the housing market seems to be giving out the most mixed messages of all.
Latest in a long line of contradictory stories is an article in The Times this week that talks of mortgage lending reaching 24% this February and March which it acknowledges is an impressive figure , but then describes the sector as being quiet and subdued. The council of mortgage lenders said that gross mortgage lending in March reached £11.5 billion, up from £9.3 billion in February. The reasoning behind its quiet and subdued claim is the figures always rise at this time of the year as people are motivated to action by the arrival of spring.
And even after all that is said Paul Samter a leading economist with the CML offers us a statement that again seems to offer us hope, saying that though recovery in this area is a little slow it is steady.
Whatever way you look at it is a confusing time for people involved in this sector but at least most people seem to think that the long term prognosis is quite bright.
Non Dom Hangs Taxman By His Own Rope
Posted: 16/04/2010 Filed under: Non Dom, Offshore Solutions | Tags: business concerns, Moving to London, moving to the UK, moving to UK, Non Dom, uk investments Leave a comment »A very clever non dom made a fool of the UK taxation laws in court earlier this month. He effectively used the taxman’s most potent rule against him and won. This is not something we see every day and by that i do not mean a non domiciled individual beating the tax man, I mean anyone having a victory over them.
Even if you win on points in a battle with HMRC you usually get battered to within an inch of your life.
To cut a long story short, the non-dom managed to argue eligibility for the one get-out clause to Section 739 of British tax law, which is the UK’s most potent weapon against offshore tax evasion. This section contains the offshore anti-avoidance rules and the non-dom argued in an anonymised case that double taxation relief was necessary. The clever chap or lady or more likely their very clever lawyer argued that remittance rules superseded the argument put forward by the government body and the judge agreed.
You have got to admire anyone that takes on HMRC and wins. It is not for the faint hearted but it is sometimes necessary not least of all because of the ridiculous complexity of the laws governing offshore taxation.
If you are a non dom or you are wondering how that idea works in the UK we would be glad to talk you through it. just get in contact for a chat.
Immigration On the Agenda As Eyes Turn To Domestic Affairs
Posted: 14/04/2010 Filed under: Moving to London, Non Dom, Offshore Solutions | Tags: business, business concerns, Moving to London, moving to UK, uk investments Leave a comment »Up until now there has been a lot of focus on the economy in the lead up to this election but just recently things have started to turn towards domestic affairs and as soon as that happens the question of immigration into Britain comes up. The papers have been filled with news of national insurance hikes and speculation on raises to VAT but just for now they are discussing more closely how each party will deal with immigrants.
I believe it is a tricky area for each party steeped as it is in ignorance and sometimes almost hysteria fueled by the media. In a statement released by the labour party this week it is revealed that there will be higher emphasis placed on the need for fluent English for those applicants looking to obtain work in the public sector. I think it is great they are making this clear to the public but i refuse to believe that reasonable english skill have not always been fairly high on the agenda in this situation. Otherwise the candidate would not be fit for purpose as the saying goes.
I would like to see more said about how we are going to offer support and education regarding English acquisition to our new arrivals. I often work with new members of our community and I can assure you that they would love nothing more than ti improve their English skills. It is a total no brainer, if you as a native speaker encounter one or two people a week who you cannot understand and find that frustrating imagine the motivation of someone who is learning the language to do it quickly so they can communicate with those around them.
If you are thinking of moving to the UK, particularly if it is your desire to set up a company here then please do not hesitate to get in touch. We have been helping people to settle in the UK for many years.
The Big Debate Gamble; What Are the Odds?
Posted: 13/04/2010 Filed under: Remote Gambling License, Small Business, UK Company Set Up | Tags: business concerns, gambling, gambling laws, gambling sites, uk companies, uk investments 1 Comment »As i have mentioned before I am involved in helping people obtain remote gambling licenses and to run UK companies that specialise in gambling. It is a growing trade in the UK and it is no wonder as it seems we have a fascination with it. Earlier in the month I published a blog that outlined the types of bets available for the various aspects of the budget. I thought I would do the same for the big party debate, but get in a little earlier so you have time to mull over your bets.
As with the budget the bookmakers are hard at it trying to find interesting and lively ways to part us from our money. Gone are the days where you were likely to be only able to bet on the result of an event. In this day and age that would never satisfy the average punter. On the serious side we have bets such as who will be the first to break the rules of the debate and which of the three with achieve the highest TV audience. The last one though does appear to depend on whoever goes first, apparently after that a lot of us lose motivation. The odds are probably not worth publishing this far out from the debate but they should be interesting.
On the more frivolous side you can also bet on who will be the first to perspire, the most fascinating thing about this will be how they plan to measure it.
If you are looking to cash in on the growth in the UK gambling market feel free to get in touch and discuss it. We have been setting people up in this business for years.
Buy To Let Crowded Out First Time Buyers
Posted: 12/04/2010 Filed under: Investment, Small Business, Uncategorized | Tags: business, business concerns, corporate tax, moving to the UK, moving to UK, Small Business, uk companies, uk investments Leave a comment »It is amazing how differently, different sectors of the economy see things. I have a lot of small business people on my books who essentially run a buy to let portfolio. In other words they are professional landlords. I have always felt that these people provide a vital service to the community as well as being professional business operators and I feel they do it with little government help. An article in The Times this month has a very different take on things.
It blames the huge buy to let market for crowding out first time buyers in the run up to the big recession. They source a paper written for Tony Blair back in 2004 which states that the proportion of loans to FBT’s (first time buyers) had fallen dramatically but had not had the expected effect on the housing market as the buy to let sector took up the slack. So far I totally understand their logic but the paper then goes on to say that the effect of the growth in BTL was to crowd out FBT’s as essentially they were often competing for the same properties.
This is where things get a little hazy for me. If banks were reluctant to lend to FBT’s then surely it was a good thing that BTL landlords were there to fill the void. Would the predicted housing crisis not be far worse now if they had not been? I see what the paper is saying to some extent, the banks would rather lend to stable BTL professionals than FBT’s but surely that is something to be taken up with the banking sector?
Anyway if you are thinking of getting into property investment in the UK or any other type of company for that matter please get in touch. We are professionals at helping people to get a great start in UK business.
Firms worried About ‘Double Dip’ Bankruptcy
Posted: 31/03/2010 Filed under: Bankruptcy, Small Business | Tags: Bankruptcy, business concerns, insolvency, recession, recovery, Small Business, uk companies, uk investments Leave a comment »The news I have come across lately in my travels around the internet have allowed me to be very optimistic and upbeat about Britain and its economic future and on the whole I do stand by that but I am always pulled up short by articles like the one I read this morning. It outlined the genuine worries of small business that a double dip recession would result in their bankruptcy as they are barely scraping themselves off the floor after the last one.
There is no clear evidence that a double dip recession is going ti happen or even, really, that it is likely, but the fact that it is a mere possibility has some small business owners gripped with fear of insolvency looming. A new survey by a leading insolvency body shows that nearly a third of small business consider this to a legitimate worry. many say such things as the struggle to stay afloat during the last dip has nearly exhausted them and a second dose would finish the job.
It is awful to see legitimate , hard working business people put in the position of bankruptcy by an economy failure. We are all desperately hoping that their fears are for nothing and we never see this ‘double dip’ recession.
If you are facing bankruptcy or even personal insolvency and could do with a plan and a sympathetic ear then get in touch with us here at St Matthew’s eAccounting. We are the experts in this area and can make sure everything runs smoothly for you.
Britain Emerges From Recession With Momentum
Posted: 30/03/2010 Filed under: Small Business, UK Company Set Up, UK Investment | Tags: corporate tax, corporation tax, moving to UK, Tax, uk companies, uk investments Leave a comment »I do not want to turn this blog into one that deals solely with the state of the economy, there are plenty around that do that already. But I do think that anyone who, like myself, is involved in business in the UK and UK companies needs to keep somewhat abreast of the state of the nation and it is great to see that its current state is nowhere near as bad as so many had predicted.
An article in the finance pages of the Telegraph today points out that the country has come out of the recession way stronger than most people expected despite the fact that no one ever stops talking about the deficit. To quote the article
The Office for National Statistics said the economy grew 0.4pc in the last three months of 2009, the first quarter of growth since the first quarter of 2008 and above analysts expectations for an unrevised reading of 0.3pc.
Now while that is not earth shattering it is great to see things put into perspective. The article goes on to say that the upward revision is due to a combination of higher services, construction and agricultural output. Whatever the reason the UK is looking likely to emerge for the recession with little long term damage and perhaps a little wiser.
If you are looking to set up a UK company then we are the very people to help you with it. We have been helping people to set up UK businesses for years and even have some custom built that may suit you. Give us a ring here at St Matthew’s eAccounting and someone friendly and helpful will answer all your questions.
