Download our complete guide to yesterday’s Autumn Budget 2021:
Alexander Knight & Co (W-1195582)A5_BR_A21
Our team has analysed yesterday’s budget and we have now produced our 2021 Budget Report which covers off all the main issues you need to know as a business owner. Click below to download.
If you have any queries about how any of the measures impact you and your business please speak to our team on (0161) 980 8788 or email murray@alexanderknightaccountants.co.uk
It’s good to see some action from the Northern Powerhouse 11 (NP11) which is in the news this week demanding a ‘Budget for the North’.
We know many of our clients will be enthused to hear this influential group of local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) supporting the Northern export market.
All the entrepreneurs, manufacturers and other innovative businesses across the region who we deal with are working hard to ramp up their export activity in 2020.
Let’s hope that the looming Brexit-related trade deals are not going to destroy the hard work already put in and there are very positive negotiations ahead.
Better transport is another key theme the NP11 is pushing. We are in total agreement. We need resources and mobility if we’re going to get anywhere close to southern productivity rates.
However, we were bitterly disappointed to see that the HS2 proposals for north of Birmingham are not forecast to be delivered to passengers in Manchester and Leeds until between 2037 and 2040!
Much of the east to west rail infrastructure was based on HS2 happening. Does that mean our essential transport links aren’t to be improved in the North until that time as well?
What is important right now, is that the Spring Budget on March 11th 2020 is clear and forthcoming with much needed fresh capital for the North. Our team is poised to inform our clients on any good (or bad!) news announced which may affect their business or their personal finances as company directors.
We’d be very interested to hear YOUR views on this. What would YOU like to see in the Budget?
As 2019 draws to a close it’s important for business owners to be on the front foot when it comes to anticipating what’s in store for next year. Predictions by experts are commonplace in business circles at this time of year and some are more accurate than others.
Our team at Alexander Knight & Co think these five trends are the ones that should be on your radar during 2020.
1) 5G
Mobile connectivity is set to get faster and more reliable with the steady rollout of 5G across the country during 2020. As well as being much faster than previous ‘G’s, it is also set to open up lots of new business opportunities for entrepreneurs. One interesting consequence of the introduction of 5G is that the battery life of mobile phones is now being touted as being up to 10 times longer.
2) Public reviews
Public user-generated reviews will play an increasingly powerful role on your business fortunes during 2020. Google reviews, Facebook reviews and Trustpilot reviews are all being pushed heavily in internet search engines and star ratings will increasingly appear alongside mentions of your business online. It’s important to get a proactive strategy in place now to make sure you are generating plenty of positive online sentiment about your business and encouraging your clients and customers to give you five-star reviews.
3) Remote working
Remote working and collaborative working spaces will continue to increase in popularity. Formerly the preserve of freelancers and one-man bands, SME’s are now seeing the benefits of increased productivity when enabling and empowering their workforce to work from home or in a collaborative working space with other companies. More and more office space will become dedicated to the concept of collaborative working and local authorities in particular will be encouraging this use to fill up vacant buildings on the high street.
4) Going global
Internationalism will be a major focus for businesses of all sizes during 2020. After three years of uncertainty about Brexit, businesses have realised that expanding their international links will stand them in good stead, no matter how things turn out with Brexit. Expect to see more companies developing international connections, launching new offices and agreeing joint ventures with companies across Europe and the rest of the world.
5) Speedy decisions
Faster decision making. Business owners who can make speedy (and correct) decisions will always be the ones who succeed more than the rest. This has always been the case but the trend during 2019 of delaying decisions about expansion, investment, exiting or acquiring new companies may come to an end in 2020. Companies in our own client base at Alexander Knight & Co are planning to make big and bold decisions they feel are right for their business. We predict more corporate transactions next year and we’re excited about what this means for our entrepreneurial client base in the year ahead.
If you are reviewing your current arrangements with your existing accountants please call us on 0161 980 8788.
Raising finance
We are pleased to have been selected as an official partner with Funding Circle to widen the scope of opportunities for our clients to raise finance for their business.
We already work very closely with all the mainstream banks and most of our clients are able to access facilities with their existing bank or re-finance with another mainstream bank. These relationships are stronger than ever before.
Sometimes though, alternative finance can be more suitable.
For this reason, we’ve partnered with Funding Circle because its online lending platform is easy to use and the deals on offer are competitive. In addition, as an official partner we can secure preferential interest rates for our clients.
Funding Circle
Some of our clients have already used Funding Circle successfully and they have been pleased with the service and the results. That’s why we can be confident that this official partnership will benefit some of our other clients seeking access to finance.
IF YOU NEED TO RAISE FINANCE FOR YOUR BUSINESS TO EXPAND, HIRE STAFF, BOOST CASH FLOW OR FUND YOUR NEXT STEP – TALK TO US FIRST AND WE CAN GUIDE YOU ON THE BEST PATH FOR YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.
Alongside launching a company, buying an existing business usually ranks as one of the most exciting times of an entrepreneur’s career. It’s worth remembering that a successful acquisition takes patience, effort and plenty of homework before the deal is agreed.
When our entrepreneurial clients acquire a business, we take great care to make sure that the deal makes sense financially, practically and culturally. After all, it’s not for the faint hearted.
Buying a business
In our experience there are usually some common reasons why it makes sense for business owners to make an acquisition.
- Geographical expansion. Rather than creating a new physical infrastructure to sell your services or goods and hiring new staff in a new location, it may be less risky and more profitable to acquire an existing business in your target location.
- ‘Bolting on’ new services, skills or technology. Creating new products and services to add to your business can often be done more efficiently through acquisition than trying to build them in-house. If another company has expertise in an area you want to operate it can make sense to ‘bolt’ them on to your existing business.
- Growth and exit. It could be that you and your boardroom colleagues are on a growth mission for your business and a strategic acquisition can add value to your position. If you have one eye on an exit (i.e. selling your business) you may be able to create more value in your business by growing it with a suitable acquisition.
- Buying a competitor. It may be that you feel that your business and a rival business are in the same marketplace, fishing in the same pond for the same type of business and that you come up against each other all the time in pitches and tenders. By teaming up together you may be able to create a more successful business.
- Getting presented with an opportunity too good to miss is common. Sometimes, you will see an opportunity to radically reduce costs, improve margins and cashflows in a target business. Good professional advisers will present opportunities to you where you might not ordinarily come across them. This strategy is where private equity firms excel.
- Succession planning. Retirement, handing a family firm into new hands or undergoing a management buyout (MBO) are popular routes to acquiring a company.
If you are thinking of acquiring a business you need to make sure that you finance the deal appropriately, structure the deal correctly legally and ensure that a thorough due diligence process takes place. That’s where lawyers and accountants will be able to help you and add tremendous value.
If you are looking to acquire another business call Murray Patt on 0161 980 8788 or email murray@alexanderknightaccountants.co.uk
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