UK businesses 'turning to eBay'

The online marketplace eBay has reported a 'surge' in the number of businesses using its services since the start of the recession.  To find out more, please visit the Bourner Bullock website or click here to read the article.

Bourner Bullock International Services

To find out more about Bourner Bullock's international services, see our website: http://bournerbullockinternational.co.uk/

More shops left empty as consumer numbers fall

More than 10% of shops in towns and cities across the UK were vacant at the end of May, latest figures have revealed.  To find out more, read the article on the Bourner Bullock website.

Cheque payments need to be improved, say MPs

A Committee of MPs has called for improvements to be made to cheques, including reducing the 'delays and uncertainty' surrounding cheque payments.  To find out more, read the article on the Bourner Bullock website.

Communities secretary warns against 'mansion tax'

Imposing a tax on properties worth £1 million or more would be a 'very big mistake,' according to the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles.  To read more, visit the Bourner Bullock website to read the article.

Household finances 'worse than in the recession'

Household finances are declining at their fastest pace since the height of the recession in February 2009, new research suggests.  Read the article on the Bourner Bullock website to find out more.

Skills shortage 'hampering micro firms' ability to grow

Micro businesses are struggling to fulfil their ambition to grow because they are unable to find the right staff, a new report has claimed.  Visit the Bourner Bullock website to read the article.

Cameron pledges to support business as latest enterprise zones revealed

The Government has announced the locations of 11 new enterprise zones in England in a bid to boost local economies.  To find out more read the article on the Bourner Bullock website.

HMRC proposes to move more VAT filing online

HM Revenue and Customs has launched a consultation on the next steps for moving VAT online.  To find out more, visit the Bourner Bullock website and read the article....HMRC proposes to move more VAT filing online

Government closes capital allowances loophole

The Government has brought forward the closure of a loophole which allowed businesses to accelerate capital allowances claims for plant and machinery and obtain advantageous early tax relief.  To find out more read the article on the Bourner Bullock website....Government closes capital allowances loophole

Chancellor confirms 50p tax rate 'under review'

The Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed that HMRC is reviewing the 50% top rate of income tax, fuelling speculation that the rate will be scrapped next year.  To read more...Chancellor confirms 50p tax rate 'under review'

Osborne warns of 'long hard recovery' ahead

The Chancellor George Osborne has conceded that the UK’s economic recovery will take 'longer and be harder than hoped' following recent turbulence in the global financial markets.  To read more...Osborne warns of 'long hard recovery' ahead

First-time buyer loans on the rise

Around 18,000 loans for first-time buyers were approved in June, the highest number in 10 months.  To read more...First-time buyer loans on the rise

Tax and red tape 'hampering small firms' efforts to go green'

Tax and red tape are hampering small firms' efforts to become more environmentally friendly, according to new research by the Forum of Private Business (FPB).  To read more...Tax and red tape 'hampering small firms' efforts to go green'

Flexible working plans 'could undermine deregulatory drive'

Plans to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees could undermine the Government’s efforts to tackle red tape, a leading business group has claimed.  To find out more...Flexible working plans 'could undermine deregulatory drive'

VAT REGISTRATION - It's really not that simple !!

VAT invoices can only be issued by persons who are REGISTERED for VAT.

However non-registration does NOT relieve the person who was intially refused registration (pending further requested information to be provided), from the requirement to make VAT returns !! 

Regulation 25 of the 1995 VAT Regulations, requires EVERY person "..who is registered... or who is required to be registered...., to make VAT returns.

How, in practise, this would be done poses an interesting dilemma.

Pay freeze for three-quarters of staff, says CIPD

More than three-quarters of UK workers have had their pay frozen this year, latest figures from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) have shown.  To find out more...Pay freeze for three-quarters of staff, says CIPD

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Intellectual property laws to be overhauled

The Government has unveiled plans to overhaul the UK's intellectual property laws in a bid to boost economic growth.  To find out more...Intellectual property laws to be overhauled

No rate rise until 2012, predict economists

It is unlikely that interest rates will rise before next year, according to some of the country’s leading economists.  To find out more...No rate rise until 2012, predict economists

Deregulatory measures 'to help SMEs access equity finance'

Two deregulatory amendments to the EU Prospectus Directive have been brought into force a year early in a bid to make it easier for small firms to access equity financing. To find out more...Deregulatory measures 'to help SMEs access equity finance'

Bourner Bullock and The Sumbandila Scholarship Trust

Bourner Bullock is proud to continue to support the work of The Sumbandila Scholarship Trust.  The Trust provides both full scholarships to private schools as well as an educational outreach programme to impoverished rural children in the Vhembe District of South Africa’s Limpopo Province.  The Trust’s latest newsletter, published in June 2011, outlines the achievements of the Trust and can be downloaded from their website.  Thanks to all of the donors, both corporate and personal, there are now 100 children attending the Outlier Programme of Saturday and Holiday Schools and 36 children are supported with full or partial residential and academic bursaries, most of them living in the Sumbandila hostels and attending Ridgeway College.  The Trust also provides essential pastoral care and counselling through their part-time mentor to all of the children who are accepted onto the scheme, to help them with the huge cultural and economic divide which they encounter between Sumbandila and their homes.  The Trust’s main donors are Marwyn Investments Management LLP and it is through this link with Marwyn which Bourner Bullock came to support the Trust’s work.  To find out more about the work of The Sumbandila Scholarship Trust, please visit the Sumbandila website, http://www.sumbandila.org/.

Pensions system in 'urgent need of reform'

The UK pensions system is in 'urgent need of reform' after it emerged that some 14 million people do not have a workplace pension.  To read more...Pensions system in 'urgent need of reform'

HMRC apologises for 'poor performance'

HMRC has apologised to taxpayers after a new report exposed a raft of problems with its services.  To read more...HMRC apologises for 'poor performance'