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Experienced corporate finance professional Steve Connelly joins us as a consultant

We are delighted to have engaged highly experienced Corporate Finance professional Steve Connelly on a consultancy basis for our clients.

Steve is a highly skilled and experienced professional with 15 years’ senior management experience in industry after a 20-year career in accountancy practices including Arthur Anderson and Baker Tilly.

Steve’s experience includes leading all types of transactions, principally acquisitions, disposals and buyouts, for a wide range of owner-managed businesses. Steve also has significant experience of fundraising, both bank and equity finance, in support of transactions.

This vast experience in leading Corporate Finance teams and transactions is a fantastic asset to our team and our client base. Great to be working with you Steve!

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Baby update!

We are pleased to report that our colleague Danielle Cresswell and her family are doing well since the birth of baby Tessa. She’s now 6 months old and we were sent some brilliant pictures of Danielle with the baby.

We can’t wait to see little Tessa again in the office and we are looking forward to welcoming Danielle back to our team in due course.

Thank you, Danielle, for allowing us to share this sweet photo of you both!

 

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SIC codes come under scrutiny by HMRC

The UK Standard Industrial Classification of economic activities, abbreviated as UK SIC, is a five-digit classification that you normally select upon registering your company.

It has been well publicised that HMRC is targeting non-compliance within the Research and Development tax credits regime and is placing a company’s SIC code under greater scrutiny.

A more reactive element of HM Revenue and Customs strategy lies within its approach to the enquiries being raised. They have published a list of sectors that are actively being targeted as they are deemed to be unlikely to undertake genuine Research and Development activities.

These are:

  • Care Homes
  • Childcare Providers
  • Personal Trainers
  • Wholesalers and Retailers
  • Pubs
  • Restaurants

We are also aware that unofficially certain other sectors are also subject to scrutiny and we believe these to include:

  • Estate Agents
  • Textile Industries
  • Construction Sector
  • Educational Institutions
  • Consultancy Firms

Part of this strategy is for R&D tax credit claimants to require more robust procedures both before submitting a claim and as part of the actual claim itself.

We actively work with our clients who undertake Research and Development activities to ensure that these obligations are fully met.

HMRC uses the SIC code as shown on public record at Companies House to identify whether a company falls into one of the sectors above. We are aware that companies initially select this code upon incorporation based upon the business plan for company at that time. The activities of a company will naturally change over the course of its life and thus over time the SIC code may not best represent the current activities of a company.

The SIC code should be periodically reviewed to ensure the most appropriate code has been selected and we would recommend that this review is part of any planning for a Research and Development claim.

If you are unsure of your SIC code and wish to discuss these issues, please do not hesitate to contact our team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Companies House fee increase confirmed

Companies House is increasing the fee charged for the Confirmation Statement from £13 to £34. We are surprised it’s not a round figure such as £30.

For a complete list of disbursements you can go to the Companies House website here and here’s a selection of other fees for your reference.

Incorporation (Digital) £50
Incorporation (paper) £71
Confirmation Statement (Digital) £34
Confirmation Statement (Paper) £62
Change of Name (Digital) £20
Change of Name (Paper) £30
Voluntary Strike Off (Digital) £33
Voluntary Strike Off (Paper) £44
Registration of a Charge (Digital) £15
Registration of a Charge (Paper) £24

 

 

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Our international work continues to grow

We are delighted to continue receiving referrals from fellow MGI members from across the world. Our successful award-winning accountancy work for international-based clients who have operations in the UK is going strong.

We became a member of the MGI Worldwide in 2020. Member firms, which comprise 8,500 professionals  operate in more than 100 countries.

Joining the network has bolstered our international trade links and has enabled us to collaborate with accountancy firms in other jurisdictions.

Multiple companies headquartered in Canada, USA, Germany, Holland, Greece, Denmark, Switzerland, Malaysia, Singapore and more recently Sweden have appointed our team to support them with a number of specialist services that we provide.

You may remember that at the 2023 MGI UK & Ireland conference for partners & managers, which was held recently in Edinburgh, Murray and Kate collected an award on behalf of Alexander Knight & Co for ‘International Client Experience of the Year 2023’.

We are delighted to continue our success in this area in 2024. Thank you to the MGI members who place their trust in us to deliver for their clients here in the UK.

 

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