By Nick Jones, Global Director of PwC’s Public Sector Research Centre The Queen’s Speech, the quaint tradition by which the government of the day sets out its annual legislative programme amid much pomp and no little ceremony, contained few surprises. Nevertheless, it was still of real interest in showing the...
The majority of private businesses in the West Midlands are optimistic about the future business environment, believing it will improve over the next three years, according to a poll conducted by PwC in the Midlands at a recent forum dinner. The dinner brought together some of the region’s leading private...
Fifteen companies from the Midlands have earned places on the 14th annual Sunday Times PwC Profit Track 100. The league table ranks Britain’s privately-owned companies with the fastest-growing profits over the last three years of available audited accounts‡, and is published this weekend. The 15 companies (the same number as...
The Chancellor is sticking to his guns and emphasising Britain is open for business by cutting the corporation tax rate, and reiterating a commitment to ‘building the most competitive business tax system in the world’. Having set low expectations given the limited room for manoeuvre, Budget 2013 was, at least...
The Chancellor introduced the theme of an "aspiration nation" in Budget 2013. How much impact will the measures announced have on reigniting the economy, sparking growth and increasing business confidence? Michael Magee, Advisory Partner, talks through some measures announced by the Chancellor aimed at increasing business confidence, including the 20%...
Mary Monfries, Tax Partner, talks about some of the measures introduced by the Chancellor and what their impact might be on SMEs in the UK. The Chancellor remained resolute in his commitment to supporting British business and entrepreneurs. Introducing a lower corporation tax rate of 20% in April 2015 will...
By Katherine Bullock Should more businesses be insisting that their shareholders, partners or directors adopt a common policy on their personal tax planning strategies? In the past, how you decided to deal with your tax affairs, whether you decided to make tax efficient investments and what you put on your...
We pay our taxes on time, but what happens to the money once paid over to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)? HMRC have launched a new tax calculator which gives you an idea of how much income tax and national insurance contributions you can expect to pay on your income,...
Nominations close this Thursday, 28 February, for the third annual Private Business Awards, so act quickly to put yourself forward with the best of UK private businesses. As long as your nomination is in by the 28th Feb, you then have a further few weeks to get your full submission...
Private Businesses from across the West Midlands are being encouraged to receive formal recognition of their achievements through a national awards scheme set up to celebrate the most successful companies and individuals in the private sector. Sponsored by PwC and HSBC Private Bank, the Private Business Awards are being officially...
By Nick Forrest, Mark Ambler and Tom Robinson In the current weak economic environment, understanding the broader economic impact of key decisions is vital for businesses, governments and regulators. Policy-makers are looking to take decisions which will boost economic growth and have a positive economic impact. So when they are...
Commenting on the Government’s expected state pension reforms, Steve Blackmore, pensions director at PwC in the Midlands, said: “Greater simplicity and certainty on the state pension has to be good news for savers and pensioners. This will give people comfort about the base level of state pension they will receive,...
In most cases, a modest upturn in sales over the Christmas trading period has brought relief for retailers in the West Midlands, many of which had been hoping that their stock and margin control strategies would prove effective. Today’s report from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has confirmed that like-for-like...
By Charles Bowman I’ve spoken to a lot of people about this and they all tend to agree that business information, reporting and assurance cannot stand still. Information that we rely on has to keep up with the dramatic changes businesses are undergoing as they adapt to fast-moving global issues,...
We start the December edition with a look back at September's Private Business Awards, held at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. Private companies are a hugely important part of the UK economy and we were very proud, alongside HSBC Private Bank, to sponsor this celebration of Britain's...
The Finance Bill published today has placed a cap on share loss relief for losses arising after 5 April 2013. However, the government has also provided a carve-out for shares on which Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) or Seed EIS relief has been claimed and retained. In these cases, relief on...
The first two stages of auto-enrolment are live and we are experiencing strong appetite amongst clients to hear about the incidence of opt out. Many of the first stagers are using the optional postponement period so significant volume data won't be coming through until January 2013 onwards. However, those that...
So how was the Autumn Statement for you? Here’s how I did against my predictions for private clients: As expected, there wasn’t a big Christmas giveaway. There were some modest changes to allowances and tax bands with the Chancellor planning to raise £1bn by increasing the reach of the higher...
Alex Henderson, Partner in our tax practice, gives you his predictions for the Autumn Statement. Related Autumn Statement prediction videos: Autumn statement predictions - Understanding the impact for individuals and entrepreneurs Autumn statement predictions - Implications for HR Autumn Statement predictions: Implications for corporates and larger businesses
So, what can we expect from the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement for individuals and entrepreneurs? Given the economic climate, there’s no doubt that there’s little room for manoeuvre for the Chancellor, so we’re not expecting any big Christmas giveaways. Adam Waller, tax partner and North West Private Client leader...
