We are very happy to have been nominated by our clients, peers and the Manchester business community for ‘Best Accountancy Practice‘ in this year’s Talk of Manchester Awards 2018.
We have always supported entrepreneurialism in Manchester and we are proud to be considered the ‘accountants for entrepreneurs’ in the region.
The team at Alexander Knight & Co is rapidly growing and our reputation is such that we are getting increasing levels of referrals from existing clients, other advisers such as law firms and a number of banks. All these people can trust that we will look after their client and be more than just ‘another accountancy firm’. It’s t his approach that has seen us get shortlisted for this award.
You can see everyone who is shortlisted in all the categories and our team would be very pleased if you took a minute to vote for us in the ‘Best Accountancy Practice’ category. Thank you to everyone who has voted for us so far – it is very much appreciated!
Tyrers, the Chorley-based coach and travel operator has appointed us as its new accountants as the business gears for even more growth following a record year.
S. Tyrer & Son was established in Adlington in 1972 by Bob Tyrer. Bob had been a coach driver for more than 30 years and started his own business at the age of 58, with one vehicle: a Bedford with a Leyland engine on a Plaxton body.
Over the years his fleet expanded to five vehicles before he passed away in November 1992 when family members carried on the business.
The firm’s main booking office is still based in Adlington on Chorley Road and its garage is on Cowling Brow in Chorley where it now operates more than 80 vehicles.
Turnover last year grew by 20% compared to the previous year, topping £6m. The management team is confident of more growth as it plans further investment in new vehicles and premises over the next 18 months.
Clients include Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End, NST Educational Tours, as well as local authorities and schools.
Richard Buckle, managing director of Tyrers Coaches, said:
We had a good year last year thanks to growth in the number of new contracts we secured with schools, private companies and growth in the number of UK excursions booked by customers.
“We are delighted to appoint Alexander Knight & Co, who are experienced in acting for other successful coach operators, as advisers to our business as we plan our next phase of growth.
Tyrers is an historic family-owned business whose vehicles are instantly recognisable across Lancashire. The business is growing organically and perfectly located to serve Manchester, Bolton, Preston, Wigan, Blackburn.
The importance of reliable management information cannot be understated as the business seeks to enhance its trading position and make new investments over the next eighteen months.
We are delighted to have been appointed as their new accountants.
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We’re pleased to confirm that we’ve now officially moved to prestigious new office space in the heart of Hale, Cheshire.
Our practice, launched by Murray Patt in 2012, had outgrown its old premises near Manchester Airport and our new location will be a springboard for even further growth.
As well as launching the office, at Westgate House on Hale Road, we are also unveiling our new sponsorship of Hale Railway Station as well as revealing a clutch of new client wins.
Alexander Knight & Co provides tax, audit and management accountancy services for a range of businesses across the region. Our growing client base also includes international companies seeking specialist advice on doing business in the UK. New clients include Gresham Wealth Management and Thomas Storey Fabrications Group.
We are excited to reveal our new office space in Hale village. Our old office, near Manchester Airport, served us well since we launched the practice back in 2012. Since then, we have grown our client base, staff numbers and our services.
We’ve also developed as a business and we see our new home as a physical embodiment of where we are now and where we are heading as a practice.
Our new, professional surroundings are perfectly in tune with our culture and better suited to our clients and staff. Not only is the location convenient and easy to access it’s also a stone’s throw from amenities in Hale village and Altrincham town centre for our staff.
We’ve had a very successful year and we are looking forward to maintaining our growth during 2018 as we seek to expand our team and client base of entrepreneurs across the region.
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We are excited to reveal that our new office premises from March 26th will be in…Hale!
Our old office, near Manchester Airport, has served us well since we launched the practice back in 2012.
Since then, we have grown our client base, staff numbers and our services.
We’ve also developed as a business and we see our new home as a physical embodiment of where we are now and where we are heading as a practice.
Our new, professional surroundings are perfectly in tune with our culture and better suited to our clients and staff.
Not only is the location convenient and easy to access it’s also a stone’s throw from amenities in Hale village and Altrincham town centre for our staff. It’s less than 300 yards from Hale railway station where, if you look carefully, you ‘ll soon see our fantastic new advertising campaign.
We are having great fun getting to know our new neighbours which include Handelsbanken, Gillespies and Strategic North.
We will be only too pleased to see you at our new office and you are very welcome to come and see us at any time.
Look out for our ‘launch cocktail’ event very soon…
We are pleased to have appointed Daniel McKeown as an accounts senior here at Alexander Knight & Co.
Joining Alexander Knight & Co is a natural progression for Dan who has spent his entire career advising successful entrepreneurs in the SME market.
Like many of our clients, we are on a positive growth curve and since the start of the year we have picked up a range of new audit clients as well as specialist tax work from international firms trading in the UK.
In addition, we’re also moving into new, bigger and better office space in the heart of Hale village to accommodate future growth plans.
We are delighted to have appointed Dan to our growing team and we’re confident that our clients, who range from fast-growth businesses to seasoned entrepreneurs will be well served by his skills.
Dan McKeown, accounts senior at Alexander Knight & Co, says
I have a passion for advising entrepreneurs and I’m looking forward to working with my new colleagues and the fantastic array of clients we have here at Alexander Knight & Co.
We have teamed up with our friends at Gresham Wealth Management to host an exclusive screening of the England v Belgium World Cup game on Thursday 28th June (7pm kick off).
If you are a football fan & would like to watch the likes of Henderson, Lallana, Gomez, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alexander-Arnold & maybe Mignolet (hmmm… anyone spot a theme here?) in action at a private venue in Altrincham with a complimentary bar and snacks, then please e-mail alison@alexanderknightaccountants.co.uk to register your interest (quoting England/Belgium).
Official invitations & further information will then be e-mailed. Please be sure to RSVP to Alison as soon as you get it because places are strictly limited and it’s sure to be a popular fixture!
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We have teamed up with our Manchester based PR agency, Sugar PR, to offer exclusive media profiles of your business in key media titles. We are always keen to add more value to our services and we think we’re the only accountants in Manchester who extend the skills of our public relations team as well as our tax, audit and management accountant services.
Recently, we helped our client Aquavision raise its profile by placing this brilliant article in the Manchester Evening News. We even made this cool videowhich helps them to tell their success story. Another client of ours launched a new, innovative product and we were only too pleased to lend a hand in getting it ‘out there’ to create some media buzz.
We’re proud of your success stories and we want to help you shout about it.
If you want to be featured in our next client profile and get some supportive PR and media profile – please let Murray know and we’ll take care of the rest.
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Investors’ Relief (‘IR’) is a relatively new tax relief available to investors who sell shares in unlisted trading companies.
This tax relief shares many similarities with Entrepreneurs’ Relief (‘ER’) – under both reliefs there is a 10% capital gains tax rate available (as opposed to 20% for higher rate taxpayers) & both have a lifetime limit of up to £10 million.
On the basis of the above then there doesn’t appear to be a need for IR!
However, we have recently advised on a number of transactions where the shareholder group included a number of investors who held less than 5% of the company – making them ineligible for ER. This is where IR comes in.
Investors’ relief doesn’t require a minimum shareholding, & therefore a 10% capital gains tax relief is still possible, with the appropriate planning & advice.
IR applies to new ordinary shares issued on or after 17 March 2016. The relief requires that shares are held continuously for three years – in other words the first IR claim will be made in the 2019/20 tax year…..so now is the time to plan for this, given that it’s only a few months away.
There are a few other simple rules to follow on IR – the most notable one being that the investor should not be a paid employee of the investing company, although they can act as a director of the company.
IR may also provide a ‘next best alternative’ to the other excellent tax reliefs available: Enterprise Investment Scheme (‘EIS’) and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (‘SEIS’).
Whilst EIS/SEIS may offer more tax benefits, there are several conditions which must be met in order to qualify, & as a result these options may be too cumbersome for some investors.
IR can also be treated as a top-up to ER i.e. having 2 x £10 million of gains by utilising both tax reliefs.
The team at Alexander Knight & Co is hugely experienced in advising on capital gains tax cases.
If you’d like a second opinion, or just some idea of which options could work for you then contact Murray Patt.
Want to be nominated for loveliest employer of the year?With the Trivial Benefits in Kind Exemption (we know…hardly a smooth trip off the tongue phrase) that emerged from the Finance Bill 2016, you can now treat your employees without them facing any tax hassles. So what kind of treats apply?
Gift vouchers (up to the value per head – see “small print” below)
Taking a group of employees out for a celebratory birthday meal
Flowers on the birth of a new baby
A summer garden party for employees
And it gets better……you can also treat yourself!
If you are the director of a Limited Company, then you, too can receive up to £300 per tax year -which will not be subject to tax or NI – in the form of gift vouchers from your favourite retail or on-line store. A director of multiple companies can take advantage of this opportunity for each company! But be quick, as great tax breaks like this often disappear just as quickly as they appear!
You can get £300 of gift cards (in £50 tranches) on or before the 5th April – and then another £300 (in £50 tranches) on or after the 6th April 2019 – giving you £600.
There are obviously a number of conditions that a trivial benefit for an employee has to satisfy in order for it to qualify for the new exemption & these are outlined below in some detail. However, the basic lowdown is that it has to be a freely given gift related to employee welfare & goodwill, not employment service or performance.
The small print…
No more than £50 per benefit (or average of £50 if the benefit is provided to a group of employees, & it is not possible to work out the exact cost for each individual). The £50 limit (fortunately) does not apply to company directors.
If the employee exceeds this amount then the whole lot becomes a benefit in kind & therefore the normal tax rules apply.
Cash or a cash voucher are not eligible but gift vouchers eg for a shop, are acceptable
There must be no entitlement to the benefit as part of the employee’s contract (including salary sacrifice schemes).
The benefit is not provided in recognition of a work related service or employment duty.
For additional information, tailored to your company, please contact a member of the Alexander Knight & Co team.
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We are seeing more and more professional services firms – and their clients being investigated by HMRC for tax evasion. HMRC issued 1,414 production orders to accountancy, law and other professional services firms in relation to investigations into tax evasion according to this report by economia.
At least two Manchester United stars were reported to have been investigated by HMRC over alleged image rights tax evasion as the authorities opened new cases against top footballers in the Premier League.
As enquiries escalate amongst top flight footballers, tax investigations into the affairs of small business are also on the increase and we say it is because both groups are easy targets for HMRC.
“It increasingly feels as if small and medium-sized businesses and Premier League footballers are two of the most targeted groups for tax investigations by HMRC.
“In the case of footballers, forming an image rights company to receive payments of up to one fifth of a player’s salary is actually a legitimate tax strategy approved by the authorities if set up appropriately.
“However, it’s logical for the authorities to launch investigations into high profile players who earn their wealth via multiple sources because it can be a rich source of extra income, particularly for players who are new to the Premier League from other countries where tax rules are different.
Get insurance for HMRC investigations
“Let’s not forget that small and medium sized businesses are an even easier target. If you don’t take care as a small business owner you’re at risk of being pulled up over minor mistakes or small disparities, which could incur disproportionately heavy fines and penalties imposed by HMRC.
“It’s important to have insurance in place to cover the cost of an investigation if you are a small or medium sized business, since in most cases you won’t have the funds of a top-flight footballer. Don’t get caught offside by HMRC.”
Alexander Knight & Co will arrange insurance for you and your business against the costs of an expensive HMRC investigation. Don’t get caught offside by HMRC. Speak to our specialist tax team now on (0161) 980 8788.
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