Latest News

Agriculture grants open for a limited time

The latest rounds of both the Farming and Forestry Improvement and Catchments Sensitive Farming Grants are now open again.

The application windows for these grants are quite tight. Please see the links below for more details on both schemes.

Farming and Forestry Improvement Grants - deadline 4 April 2014

Catchments Sensitive Farming Grants - deadline 31 March 2014

Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster Member Meeting

Today I attended the monthly BECBC member meeting at Energus, Lillyhall (Workington) . There were over 100 in the auditorium again, which seems to be the case every month now. The membership of the cluster now exceeds 200, and 13 new members were listed on screen for January 2014.

MSI Global Alliance reports strong growth of 12% in 2013

Armstrong Watson became a member of the MSI Global Alliance a number of years ago in order to provide access to high quality accounting, tax and legal advice to our clients with overseas interests.  As a result of our association with the MSI Global Alliance, we have been able to help and support many of our clients, and our membership also provides our clients with confidence that they can get the help and advice they need through Armstrong Watson when doing business outside of the UK, without the need to go to the expense of using an international firm of accountants. 

The ideal mortgage process

On introducing me as the new Property Finance Consultant at Armstrong Watson, a member of staff started to explain how much trouble they had securing a mortgage for the new property they had recently bought.

They said it took absolutely ages to sort out, as they had to approach four or five different lenders before getting an offer that they felt was right for them. It wasn’t a great experience and just increased the stress that everyone feels when making such a huge commitment.

Armstrong Watson survey reflects positive year for Lake District hotels

Hotels and guest accommodation in the Lake District have had a fantastic summer and autumn 2013, according to a new survey by Armstrong Watson.

Supporting local charities

In times of austerity and with recent cut backs in core funding within the charity sector, fundraising and donation giving has become vitally important to charities and community amateur sports clubs (CASC) to ensure that they can continue to fund their charitable activities and to provide those vital services to the general public which only the third sector delivers.

Should you sell online?

I read an article in The Telegraph recently in which it stated that online sales were up 19.2% in December 2013 compared to December 2012, and that a British Retail Consortium survey revealed that non-food online purchases had risen from 16.5% to 18.6%, meaning that almost one in five non-food purchases is made online.  This backs up the obvious; that online selling is and will continue to be a growing market.

Important tax issues in divorce or dissolution

The Christmas period is often a time when people feel a lot of pressure to have fun and spend quality family time. While many families are fortunate to have an enjoyable break together this is not, sadly, the case for all. The festive period can be a time which leaves some couples contemplating divorce or separation in the New Year. 

The tax aspects for a divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership are essentially the same. This article doesn’t cover the differing issues faced by couples not in a marriage or civil partnership who have decided to separate. 

Deadline looming for tax relief on commercial property deals

Whilst most accountants and many business owners understand about claiming capital allowances on loose plant items such as tables, chairs and fridges, capital allowances are often overlooked on “fixed plant” such as electrical and heating systems.

According to research by Deloitte, 96% of owners have not taken advantage of the available allowances, losing out on an estimated £70bn to £80bn.

Presenting at Xero roadshows and the introduction of files in Xero

I had the honour this week of guest speaking at the Leeds and Manchester Xero Roadshow events. The events were well attended with over 200 people in attendance.  It was an opportunity to share Armstrong Watson’s success as a Gold Xero partner with other parties interested in joining the Xero journey. For those that are not aware of Xero it is ground breaking cloud accounting software.