Rest assured that Captain Fawcett Ltd are delighted to be doing their bit on the home front! It’s all hands to the pump as the manufacturer and purveyor of simply ‘First Class Gentleman’s Grooming Requisites’ has effectively shifted production and as such the manufacturing arm of Captain Fawcett Ltd, McCavity’s Contract Fillers, is extremely busy ‘Filling for Victory’. Captain Fawcett founder Richie Finney, an Invest West Norfolk Champion and a 2019 Mayor’s Business Awards winner says “As never before, it’s time to rally round and pull together. I’m delighted that the team have responded so swiftly to requests for the hygienic necessities which form an essential part of every modern gentleman’s daily grooming regime.” In addition to filling hand sanitiser for a number of organisations who, in turn, supply the vital key workers of Great Britain, Captain Fawcett is raising funds for our our magnificent National Health Service. New products have been introduced into the Fawcett’s Physician range and with the NHS firing on all cylinders, 10% of all proceeds from each Handy Sanitiser bottle and Zam-Buk Soap bar will be going directly to NHS Charities. The Handy Sanitisers and Zam-Buk soap are available to order exclusively from Captain Fawcett’s online Emporium www.captainfawcett.com where it should be said rigorous hygiene protocol is strictly adhered to at all times. Carry on.
Here at Safepoint we’ve been waiting to announce some big news for a while now, and today’s the day. We are incredibly happy to be able to announce the launch of our brand new Alert Button! The Safepoint Alert Button is the latest addition to our arsenal of tools designed to protect your staff. Now your team can call for help simply by pressing a physical button! What’s more, the Alert Button includes fall detection, adding even more automated safety to the Safepoint platform.
BDH Tullford, a Norwich-based print and point-of-sale specialist, has teamed up with Norwich School to help produce thousands of visors, designed to protect key workers across East Anglia.
The BDH Tullford team is working alongside a number of local organisations, producing and cutting materials, ready to be made into visors. These essential items are being distributed across the region for use in hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and more.
Says Director James Fox: “We’re delighted to support our community at this time. With so much demand for PPE across the region – and the nation – the whole team is thrilled to be able to help. Adding our production capacity has increased the already significant amounts being made and distributed by the school.”
Follow the company on LinkedIn, or give them a call on 01603 620780 to find out more.
The Ministry of Justice has announced a further delay to the implementation of the whiplash claims process reforms; until April 2021. This is the second postponement of the planned reforms within the last two months, with the delay attributed to the unprecedented impact of the disruption and pressures caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.
The intended reforms include increasing the small claims limit for road traffic accident personal injury claims to £5,000, meaning costs will no longer be able to be recovered for cases worth less than that amount. There will also be a fixed damages tariff for whiplash injuries that last up to two years, and a ban on making or accepting offers to settle a whiplash claim without a medical report.
Colin Cook, Hatch Brenner Norwich Personal Injury Solicitor commented: “This is good news for claimants as the reforms largely favour insurers. The delay will afford claimants with low value claims a further period of respite and access to justice until the planned reforms are implemented. I would recommend anyone contemplating making such a claim to do so without delay. We have the systems, technology and processes in place at Hatch Brenner to handle these types of legal claims remotely whilst remaining approachable, sympathetic and offering clear and straightforward legal advice.”
Contact our Personal Injury Solicitors to discuss your whiplash legal claim via 01603 660 811 or email colincook@hatchbrenner.co.uk
Our Norfolk Water Sports store – The Boathouse – is launching a competition in collaboration with the Zoological Society of East Anglia to help support Banham Zoo, who are struggling to feed their animals in these challenging times.
Even though we have also been affected by the pandemic (as many other medium size businesses); we are still looking for ways to be positive and contribute to the local community that we care and love so much.
To help raise funds for animal food, veterinary care and staff wages, we are giving away a custom ‘zebra’ Silverbirch Broadland 16 canoe, made right here in Norfolk. (All proceeds will go towards supporting Banham Zoo.)
Charlie Walker of TaxAssist Bedford, St Neots and Huntingdon shares his thoughts on life as a TaxAssist Accountants franchisee during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Charlie Walker has been a TaxAssist Accountants franchisee for two years and in that time has grown his practice to look after in excess of 200 clients. Here, he shares how he now spends his days, his feedback about the support provided by TaxAssist Accountants and his plans for the future.
“At the moment, my days aren’t too different to those before the crisis began,” explains Charlie. “The key change has been that my commute is only to another room in my house most days, though I am calling into both shops from time to time to collect non digitised client records and post.”
“We start each day with a team catch up using Zoom, which is as much a social chat as it is a work one. Once the Zoom chat is over and we all know what we are going to be doing for the day, I start my work. This can involve traditional tax returns or, as is often the case now, working with clients to help them to protect their businesses, be that by applying for grants or loans or outlining the impact of the government schemes on them as individuals.”
Charlie operates his practice from shops in Bedford and Huntingdon and an office in St Neots. He himself has benefitted from one of the measures introduced by the Government to support small businesses.
“Having a shop with a rateable value of less than £15,000 means we have been in receipt of a grant of £10,000 from the local authority which is a great help in uncertain times. If anyone would like to know more about the Government’s support measures, I am very much open for business and can either speak over the phone, email or offer a face-to-face meeting over the internet.”
Charlie has maintained regular contact with his clients where he can, during these difficult times and has been praised for doing so. “Feedback from clients ranges from simple emails saying things like ‘that’s great, thanks for the update’ to online reviews from businesses we [don’t yet] act for but who were pleased to be able to get some advice. I have also been asked to take a non-executive director role on the board of a key service provider we act for based on work we have done with them over the last year, and on that I was able negotiate a revised fee structure and interim grant for them. The same client has also agreed to hand over almost their entire financial support and bookkeeping to TaxAssist, so the owners and directors can focus on building their unique business.”
The TaxAssist Accountants Support Centre has rolled out several measures to support its franchisees, which Charlie is quick to praise alongside the staff members themselves. “The daily updates and regular webinars organised by The Support Centre have been useful but the key thing I have had from TaxAssist in Norwich is continuity. The team has remained the same friendly, helpful and knowledgeable group that they have been since I joined the network in 2018 which has been great.”
Charlie is looking positively on the future and has plans in place to grow his practice. “Clearly the pandemic has caused a huge global shock, but with my services very much in demand, I believe now is a great opportunity to think about expanding my practice and I’ve entered into a discussion about a new premises in a prime location. I know that the economy will contract for a while, but a recent OBR forecast indicates that by early next year there should be a period of rapid growth once again.
“In the meantime, I just want to wish all my clients and colleagues well and urge them to please stay home and stay safe whenever they can.”
Cotton World are a leading manufacturer of textile products, with over three decades of industry experience, and they are working hard to offer support and help during the Corona crisis.
Managing Director of Cotton World Gary Holley has had a new shipment of navy Polycotton 195 gsm, and he is pleased to be able to offer Scrubs locally manufactured at a production volume of 120 per week.
Price for full set £24.00.
Our Fabrics
Our leading fabric suppliers hold BCI, GOTS and OE, and GRS 2.1 certifications. We are proud to manufacture textile products using the following fabrics:
– Cotton and Cotton blends, including Poly-Cottons – Organic Cotton and Organic Cotton blends, including 100% Organic with GOTS and OE certification – Recycled Cotton and Recycled blends, our fabric partner is a GRS certified company holding its own unit for fabric opening and blending – BCI Cotton, including 100% BCI with traceability – Fair Trade, our fabric partner is an FLO certified supplier
Please refer to Our Facilities for details about our manufacturing capabilities in the UK and India.
Whilst some homeworking arrangements may have been in place several weeks ago, due to COVID-19 we are now seeing more and more employees working remotely. So what does H M Revenue & Customs (HMRC) consider to be a homeworking arrangement, and what additional expenses can employees claim since they are now using their own home?
What is a homeworking arrangement?
A homeworking arrangement exists where there are arrangements between the employer and employee requiring the employee to regularly work from home. Current HMRC guidance indicates that where an employee is working from home due to COVID-19, either because the workplace has been closed, or they are following advice to self-isolate, a homeworking arrangement will exist for this period.
It is however still advisable that these arrangements are put in writing and our HR team can assist with this.
Can employers pay employees for extra costs incurred from working from home?
Employers may make a tax-free contribution towards an employee’s home expenses in respect of additional costs that an employee incurs due to working from home, assuming a homeworking arrangement exists.
These payments are typically made to cover the additional costs of heating and lighting the work area, additional home contents insurance or business calls. The allowance however excludes fixed costs which would be payable whether or not the employee works from home, for example mortgage payments or Council Tax.
The employer may choose to reimburse the full amount of the employee’s extra costs, however evidence must be produced to substantiate the reimbursement so detailed records should be kept.
Alternatively, the employer may use HMRC’s approved scale rates of £6 per week from 6 April 2020 (£4 per week up to 5 April 2020) which can be paid or reimbursed tax-free to an employee required to work from home.
Can employees claim tax relief on additional household expenses that are not reimbursed?
Employees may be able to make a claim for tax relief on the difference between the cost of additional expenses and the tax-free amounts received by the employer.
To make a claim for tax relief, the expense must have been incurred ‘wholly, exclusively and necessarily’ in the performance of duties, and there are only certain circumstances where HMRC accept that these conditions are met, including that employees are ‘required’ to work from home. Just being under a homeworking arrangement is not necessarily enough.
HMRC will only recognise the conditions are met for these purposes where no facilities are available for the employee to work at the employers’ premises, and there was no choice available to the employee other than to work from home.
HMRC have not yet confirmed that they will accept COVID-19 as being a situation where employees are ‘required’ to work from home – we therefore await their confirmation that employees can claim tax relief on additional non-reimbursed expenses. The approved scale rate of £6 per week, or reimbursed actual additional expenditure mentioned above have however been confirmed to be available under to COVID-19.
Please get in touch should you have any further queries regarding homeworking arrangements or employee expenses.
Soul Foundation runs a programme through which, in normal times, it distributes food equating to approximately 1,000 meals a week to people in significant need.
This food is sourced from supermarkets and others who have short-lifed stock to dispose of. Norwich City Council have asked the Foundation to be one of three food hubs for Norwich, to help meet the significantly increased need brought about by the current situation. This week we have distributed the equivalent of more than 12,000 meals and we aim to build this to 30,000 per week.
This scaling up has, inevitably, necessitated significant changes to the way in which we operate and we are having to source food through new channels. In some cases this means paying for it although at reduced prices.
We are keen, therefore, to identify other potential suppliers whether for free or heavily discounted. Specific current requirements are for potatoes, crisps, rice, sauces for pasta meals, ready-made meals and long-life milk but we would also like to hear of potential supplies of other foods and toiletries.
TaxAssist Accountants may be in lockdown like most of the nation, but they are still very much open for business.
TaxAssist Accountants are working hard to keep in contact with their clients to provide help and guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic. All franchisees are still open for business by following Government guidelines about working remotely, so are still able to communicate, sign up new clients and carry out work.
The Support Centre staff are working hard too and have received very positive feedback from franchisees on the measures that have been put in place to support the network.
Nick Sims, who operates from TaxAssist Devizes and Chippenham, says: “I have never regretted the decision to set-up in practice as a franchisee, I always believed that the back-up of the Support Centre would be both reassuring and an invaluable asset that most sole practitioners can never experience.
“Indeed, this has always been the case but never more so than now. Although Daren Moore (Group Commercial Director) and James Mattam (Group Business Development Director) have led/fronted the effort magnificently, it is very clear indeed that the immense amount of work and tangible output is very much a wider team effort.
“They have been absolutely brilliant and I would be amazed if any other accountancy organisation has got anywhere close to delivering what they have in the past few weeks.”
Terry Peachman from TaxAssist Lincoln concurs: “The information you guys have pushed out has helped enormously as it has informed and educated clients (and ourselves) and helped them (and us) understand and make some sense of what was evolving in front of their eyes.
“In our conversations and by email we have frequently had appreciation expressed for the information sent out through the centralised emails. Thank you for all that you have done to assist us. “My philosophy this week has been ‘what we do for them today our clients will remember us for in the future'”.
Hannah Campbell, at TaxAssist Dalkeith, Leith, Fairmilehead and Musselburgh says: “As a large franchise we are still working our way through phone calls to each client, however the fact that we have been able to keep all clients updated regularly and over the evenings and weekends helps us show clients that we are doing our very best to get this information out to them. I am confident that the loyalty we will get from clients will pay off in the years to come.”
The speed of response to the latest announcements by the Support Centre was praised by Horsforth-based Will Swift: “Massive thank you from me, the team and all our clients to each and every one of you at Support Centre for the monumental efforts you are making during the current situation.
“On top of everything else, a release to all clients within an hour of the chancellor finishing his address last night, very, very powerful for us when taking to clients at a local level.”
TaxAssist prides itself on the friendly, family feel it cultivates both for staff and its nationwide network of accountants. Kingswinford and Wolverhampton based Lloyd Evans comments: “Thank you Karl and the whole team for your FANTASTIC help during very testing times. It is during times like these that you truly realise and appreciate the strength of the bond within the TaxAssist family.”
Karl Sandall, Group Chief Executive, says: “I am always proud of the level of support we provide to our network of accountants, but in these unprecedented times, I have really seen everyone pull together to provide quite exceptional levels of help and guidance. We always value feedback from franchisees and it is fantastic to hear how well our efforts have been received.”
If you would like to find out more about joining the network of TaxAssist Accountants, we are holding Virtual Discovery Days for the next few months, with the next running on Saturday 16th May. For more information click here.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council is urging residents to continue supporting local businesses which are continuing to deliver essential services to their communities during the coronavirus pandemic.
While many business premises have had to close to support national social distancing measures, food delivery and takeaway services remain operational, as well as grocery shops, hardware shops, car garages, and post offices. In addition, there are varied businesses and self-employed people continuing to operate from home.
A number of locally-based businesses have gone the extra mile to support their communities during these challenging times, including:
Vehicle dealership Pertwee and Back has loaned vans to the council to enable council staff to deliver food to “sheltered” residents and keep local food banks stocked up, as well as to undertake medical deliveries.
Thompsons Food Service has donated supplies to the food distribution hub at the Town Hall and has also put together food parcels designed for those who are unable to leave the house, including the vulnerable and elderly.
Filby Post Office has sourced supplies for the food distribution hub at the Town Hall and is working with volunteers to offer food deliveries for residents who cannot leave the house, as well as top ups for electric, gas and phones.
A number of other organisations have supported the food distribution hub at the Town Hall, including the Lidl stores at Great Yarmouth and Caister, and Norwich City FC Community Sports Foundation.
The council is updating an online list of grocery shops, food delivery and takeaway services operating within the borough. Visit www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/coronavirus
While hotels and guest houses are currently closed to visitors, they are allowed to provide temporary accommodation for key workers. To support local businesses and key workers, the council is maintaining a list of those hoteliers making rooms available for key workers during the pandemic. Visit www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/key-worker-accommodation
Cllr Carl Smith, the council leader, said: “I’m so proud of the way our whole community has pulled together to support the response. We are doing all we can to ensure our local businesses get the support they are entitled to. Equally, many local businesses which are able to continue trading are doing a fantastic job in tough times.
“A huge thank you to the businesses which have made generous bulk donations to the food distribution hub at the Town Hall. This is helping the council to supply our community-run food banks so they can continue supporting those in need.
“Some businesses have changed their operating models in order to assist their communities, whether working from home or shifting from wholesalers to supplying the public directly. During these challenging times for tourism, it’s great to see hoteliers playing their part in the response by providing accommodation for key workers.
“By everyone supporting the local businesses, this helps to support our local economy and also reduces unnecessary travel from outside the borough. Please do consider using local food suppliers and delivery services, especially if you are struggling to place orders with the national supermarkets.”
If you are a business and are able to donate in bulk non-perishable food or other essential items to include in food parcels, please contact david.helsdon@great-yarmouth.gov.uk (telephone 01493 846343) or laura.goodman@great-yarmouth.gov.uk (telephone 01493 846125) to arrange either a collection from your business premises or a drop-off at the Town Hall. If you are a member of the public and wish to donate food items, please donate these directly to the food banks.
Relief grants for businesses
Great Yarmouth Borough Council has so far handed out £22m in Government relief grants to eligible local businesses – and is reminding those eligible businesses which have not yet claimed their money to complete the online form.
Visit www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support for the link to the online form, information and support about the grants, eligibility criteria and further business advice. For advice relating to the grants, call our Business Helpline on 0808 196 2240. For other business advice, contact the Growth Hub via 0300 333 6536 or www.newangliagrowthhub.co.uk