Latest News

Skipton Team Raise £1,340 for Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice

A 10 strong team from Armstrong Watson’s Skipton office took part in the recent Keighley 10K and between them raised a whopping £1,340 for the Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice.  It's the first time the accountancy firm has put together a team to take part in the Keighley event and all managed to complete the course in impressive sub 1 hour and 5 min times.

Tax Essentials – Guest Houses and Owner Occupied Hotels

The decision to purchase a guest house or hotel can be a stressful time for most, and understanding your options is crucial to achieving your future aspirations.  The day you commit to buy a business is the first day of your commercial journey, from which you should have a clear strategy and be making decisions based upon your eventual goals and ambitions.

Bainbridge Electrical Ltd Sold in Seven Figure Management Buyout Deal

Cumbria-based industrial, commercial electrical engineering contractors, Bainbridge Electrical Ltd, has been sold in a seven-figure management buyout deal.

The deal sees James Dickinson, the company’s former Commercial Manager, acquire the Kendal-based business from the Bainbridge family, who founded it over 50 years ago.

The corporate finance team at Armstrong Watson brokered and advised on the deal, which was supported by debt funding from Mercia Fund Managers and Nick Hodgson of Cartmell Shepherd provided legal advice.

Redundancy and Unpaid Trials: How Employment Law Imapcts Payroll

The payroll profession is itrinsically linked to employment law. You can be sure that if new legislation is announced under the title employment law, it was have some impact on payroll. Our Director of Payroll, Karen Thomson, runs through some recent cases where this has been exactly the case.

New Tax Rates in Scotland from 6 April 2018

As of the 6th of April 2018, the tax rates in Scotland will be changing. Essentially, those that pay tax at the intermediate rate or above will generally pay more tax than their neighbours south of the border. Brendan Kelly details the changes to each tax band.

Innovation and the Glencroft chair of wool

In our recent Family Business survey, we asked how often companies “felt pressure to adapt and innovate in order to keep up with an ever changing environment”.  As I look at the results it occurs to me that one survey question cannot do justice to the vast subject of innovation.

There were some really interesting results from the original question.  38% did not feel any pressure to adapt or innovate at all. A further 11% felt that they “sometimes” felt the need to adapt or innovate. 

Proud sponsor of Cumbria Family Business Awards

This Friday 9th March we’re proud to join forces with businesses across Cumbria as we celebrate the second Cumbria Family Business Awards. The county’s family firms will battle it out in 11 categories, with the winners from each then competing for the coveted ‘Outstanding Family Business of the Year.’ With nearly 90% of businesses in Cumbria being family run, and with Armstrong Watson’s 150 years of experience advising and supporting family firms, we are delighted to see the awards return for a second year and repeat our role as a main sponsor of the event.

GDPR is here to stay...is your business ready?

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (‘the GDPR’) comes into effect on 25 May 2018 with the ICO’s enforcement powers to include powers to ban or suspend data processing, potentially at great cost and inconvenience.

The ICO will have the power to issue increased fines of up £17 million or 4% of global turnover, whichever is the higher. Currently, fines are capped at £500,000.

The Tractor or The Tax?

What are the most common methods used to reduce a tax liability? Find out what factors you need to consider before taking action.  The common solution to reduce taxable profits and therefore your tax liability is to buy some machinery that will qualify for full relief in the year of purchase (expenditure covered by the Annual Investment Allowance) so that the taxable profit is much lower than the accounting profit made - generally the higher the cost, the more tax relief you will get. 

Life and Death

Losing a loved one is a difficult enough thing to come to terms with, but if you add in the complication of the financial status quo being disrupted, the grief is compounded. Most people want to know that their loved ones are taken care of should they die, but how many have made sure that this is the case?