Month: August 2023

The UK’s 4.3m self-employed workers have been advised to prioritise their tax compliance after official HMRC data shows that the tax authority opened 299,000 tax enquiries last year – a 52,000 jump equivalent to 21% compared to two years before.
The statistics, gathered from HMRC’s quarterly performance updates, show that the number of tax enquiries (referred to as ‘civil compliance checks’) opened by HMRC rose from 247,000 in the 2020/21 financial year, to 265,000 in 2021/22 and 299,000 in 2022/23. In total, this marks a 21.05% increase across these years.
The significant increase in compliance activity saw the tax office net £814bn in tax revenue in 2022/23 – an 11.3% jump compared to the previous year.
In the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year (April to June 2023), the tax office has already opened 77,000 enquiries, meaning HMRC is on course to increase this for the third year running (308,000).
As a result, tax insurance provider, Qdos, has urged millions of self-employed workers and the growing number of people with side hustles to take note of HMRC ramping up its compliance activity.
Qdos CEO, Seb Maley, commented: “HMRC is clearly on a mission to increase tax receipts and we’re seeing first-hand experience of this. The number of self-employed workers being investigated by the tax office is noticeably on the rise.
“A far more active HMRC means that anyone working for themselves – whether a full-time freelancer or someone with a side hustle – should make sure they file their tax returns and pay their bills on time, as the bare minimum.
“But this is just a starting point. What’s often overlooked is that HMRC can investigate anyone at any time. You can never rule out a tax enquiry and all too often, people who have done nothing wrong are investigated. Without representation and protection, this can be a really stressful and expensive process.”
Read more:
HMRC tax enquiries jumped by over 20 per cent last year in the space of just two years with 2999,000 enquiries last year

Do you have an office buzz? Do you thrive in hustle and bustle? Or, does it drive you to distraction?
The office fizz may be a good indication of a flourishing culture, with business booming and teamwork in action, but it might also be causing some of your employees to feel stressed.
Misophonia is a condition where particular sounds can trigger extreme feelings, like panic, rage or anxiety, making it hard to think straight. Everyone is unique, and people can function differently depending on the level of noise they are exposed to.
So, how can we tweak our workspaces to support our staff’s needs and keep everyone working as productively as possible?
Look at the working environment
Start by looking at the workplace and ensure it is reflective of the type of business you want or need to run. Do you want it to be quiet, or would you prefer it to have an energy that will generate noise as a by-product?
You may not have much choice – as some industries will demand a certain ambience: think a funeral parlour vs a call centre. For many, though, you will have some flexibility to cater to different working styles.
Do you want open-plan areas where people can come together to collaborate, problem-solve and bond? Do you need quiet areas or private booths where people can talk freely without bothering others?
Assessing your workplace is an opportunity to make conscious decisions about its mood. Do you want background music playing, and if so, who chooses the tunes? Optimising seating plans, heating and ventilation, will add to staff comfort.
Talk to your employees
Explore with individual employees ways in which they can work comfortably; they know their needs best!
Most people will be able to acclimatise themselves to working in noisy conditions. In other words, acknowledging the hubbub and gently encouraging them to give it a go for a few weeks might be all they need. If they need more support, though, here are some ideas:
Headphones are one device that many office workers need no second invitation to reach for to shut out the outside world. Some may choose noise-cancelling ones, or just earplugs, while others opt for music.
While listening to music is generally proven not be as effective for concentration as silence would be, the very reason we are discussing this is that you do not have silence to begin with – so it could help. The genre of music and the type of task being performed will have a bearing on whether this is a successful tactic!
Noise levels may not be consistently high throughout the day. Could people who prefer the quiet have the opportunity to come in earlier so they can have focus time to concentrate before the office fires up?
It is not just noise that can be distracting – interruptions from emails, phone calls, and messaging apps can easily derail the most conscientious of workers. Consider some training around time management here.
What about noise when working from home?
If you have staff who work from home, the summer holidays may be a time when a once quiet home office becomes overrun with noisy children!
Make it clear when discussing work-from-home arrangements that, when on the clock for you, employees need to have space to concentrate.
To protect your productivity, it is important to make clear that a working-from-home arrangement is not childcaring time. If the work rate is dropping off, take time to explore the barriers to effective home working with them and see if you can help. You could consider asking staff to show they have a strategy for childcare and maintaining a productive and distraction free home environment.
Some outside help
We all need a bit of help. If you are struggling to create the right workplace culture or need help managing staff who are complaining about a noisy workplace, consider contacting Occupational Health providers or HR experts.
Discuss with your business network and friends to see how they approach keeping their staff focused, comfortable and productive.
Read more:
How can you fine-tune your working environment so everybody can be at their best?

There are so many reasons in this world to be miserable. War, famine, poverty, pandemics, mental health crises, the list goes on. As leaders, we have the opportunity – nay, responsibility – to prevent the workplace being such a reason.
Depending which article you read, the stats say we spend anywhere between 25% and 40% of our lives at work. When I ask people that question directly, they answer between 50% and 60%. Whichever you believe, it is a huge chunk of our lives.
As Andy Nisevic from One Degree Training & Coaching, explains: If we are miserable at work, that is an awful lot of time to spend being unhappy. We go home in low mood and wake up in low mood. Other factors, which we have no control over, then have a compound effect. According to Gallup’s 2022 state of the workplace study the UK ranked in the bottom third of European countries for employee engagement. It found that only 9% of the UK workforce feel fulfilled at work. With the amount of time we spend feeling like that, it’s no wonder so many people are experiencing depression in the modern world.
The good news is that, with the right training, and on-going support, leaders can implement some very simple measures to enable a more positive environment. This will help prevent their workforce being part of the alarmingly low Gallup statistic.
The first step is to recognise that leadership training, on its own, is not enough to produce effective leaders. People tend to be promoted because they are good at their job, which is great. If they’re lucky, they may well be sent off to a local college or leadership training provider to sit in a classroom to learn about the various leadership & communication models etc. They’ll sit exams, write essays, and at the end of the course be presented with a certificate and a national qualification that looks great on a CV.
“What’s the problem with that?”, I hear you ask. Firstly, as the training is aligned to national qualifications, it encourages a one-size-fits-all approach to leadership development, which simply doesn’t exist. Also, when we look at leadership from a neuroscientific perspective, we begin to recognise why so many managers, with very high leadership qualifications, are such toxic leaders.
Logic vs Emotion
Conversations in the classroom engage the logical centre of the brain – the pre-frontal cortex. This is where logic, learning, language, intelligence, and rational thought exist. When we’re in the workplace, and faced with a leadership challenge, the part of the brain we’re using is the emotional part – the limbic system. This part, depending on which book you read, is 5 – 15 times stronger than the pre-frontal cortex, it’s the part of the brain that’s always first to act, it has none of the benefits of the logical centre, and contains what Prof. Steve Peters refers to as the Chimp.
The Chimp is there to detect threats and keep you alive. Unfortunately, the lack of logic and learning means that it’s unable to differentiate between a mad man running towards you with a machete, or a situation that makes you just a little uneasy. So even a very minor leadership challenge can make the chimp want to get you out of that situation very quickly.
Why leadership training alone is not enough
Often, people will be promoted, and given no ongoing training or support. They are then expected to deliver from day one.
The emotional & logical parts of the brain don’t talk to each other. Success from the chimp’s perspective is just to get you out of the situation. You’re flooded with adrenaline and cortisol, and your fight or flight responses are activated. These chemicals and responses don’t result in calm, logical, thinking. All the learning gained from leadership training, doesn’t even feature in your thought process until at least 5 minutes after the situation first arose – often up to as long as 15 minutes. You know what they say about first impressions! If 60 seconds is all it takes to give someone an impression of your leadership skills, imagine the damage that can occur in 15-minutes! A further problem with this is, if the chimp’s measure of success is purely to get you out of the situation, but it was handled poorly, the chimp doesn’t know this. All it knows is that it did its job and got you out of there. This creates a neural pathway that tells the chimp this is the right thing to do in the future.
Unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky as to even be provided with the training in the first place. Often, people will be promoted, and given no ongoing training or support. They are then expected to deliver from day one.
Why talented individuals become toxic leaders
These two factors are why it’s so easy, and very common, for talented individuals, who are good, honest, decent people, to become toxic leaders. It’s not that they don’t want to be good leaders, it’s that they haven’t been developed properly and are under a lot of pressure – maybe even stress.
Step One
Now, leadership training is important. It’s just not effective on its own. It’s one step of leadership development, but not even the first. The first step to developing a great leader is taken on the first day an employee starts working for you. The culture, attitude, behaviours, and standards that you influence through your leadership will have a lasting impression.
Step Two
The next step is to identify the developmental needs of your staff; not just the hard skills essential for their operational output, but the soft skills too. Active listening, effective communication, personality profiles, etc.; anything that is going to increase their awareness of why people act the way they do.
Step Three
Respond calmly, logically, and confidently. They will be able to handle any situation effectively and keep the workforce fully engaged and productive.
Now, remember what was mentioned about training in isolation, the third step is ongoing coaching and mentoring, either in-house, or through third party support. This will take hypothetical, classroom-based learning, and put it into an individual’s reality. This coaching and/or mentoring will, over time, create the neural pathways that, when the individual is promoted to a position with leadership responsibility, can kickstart the pre-frontal cortex. This means the leader can use the leadership training, and respond calmly, logically, and confidently. They will be able to handle any situation effectively and keep the workforce fully engaged and productive.
Make the world a happier more successful place
Keep your workforce fulfilled, help the UK workforce to be more engaged
Leaders who can do this will keep your workforce in the 9% who feel fulfilled at work, helping to make the UK’s workforce a more engaged one, and bit-by-bit make the world a happier place.
Read more:
How a good person becomes a toxic leader

Foreign secretary James Cleverly will make a landmark visit to China on Wednesday in a bid to reaffirm the UK’s protection of national security.
Cleverly, who is currently in the Philippines, will fly to Beijing on August 30 for high-level talks with top officials including vice president Han Zheng and foreign affairs minister Wang Yi.
The trip will be the first by a UK foreign secretary since 2018 – five years ago – and a chance to further UK’s efforts to cooperate with China on cyber, security and human rights.
It comes as the Times reports prime minister Rishi Sunak is open to meeting Chinese premier Xi Jinping at the G20 next month, as relations between the two nations thaw.
Cleverly said: “It is important we manage our relationship with China across a range of issues.
“No significant global problem – from climate change to pandemic prevention, from economic instability to nuclear proliferation – can be solved without China.”
He added: “China’s size, history and global significance means they cannot be ignored, but that comes with a responsibility on the global stage.
“That responsibility means China fulfilling its international commitments and obligations”.
The UK approach to engaging with China was outlined in Cleverly’s Mansion House speech in April. It consists of national security protection when Beijing poses a threat; alignment with allies in the Indo-Pacific to uphold international law; and promoting stable China relations.
The foreign secretary is expected to discuss issues with counterparts including global climate change; Putin’s war in Ukraine; tensions in the South China Sea; and cyber activity.
He will also address Beijing’s human rights violations, including towards the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province, and in Tibet, and challenge the erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, under the National Security Law, and sanctioning of UK MPs, it has been confirmed.
Cleverly is following in the footsteps of US secretary of state Antony Blinken, who visited Beijing in June, but is likely to be criticised by Tory China hawks with security concerns.
The trip would mark the first time the UK government’s current China policy faced a key test.
Read more:
James Cleverly to make landmark China visit in bid to ‘protect UK national security’

Plumbing tycoon Charlie Mullins says he will pay London nurses’ ULEZ charges and called for the scheme to be “abolished immediately”.
The Pimlico Plumbers founder and multimillionaire has vowed to shell out the cost for all nurses newly affected by the ultra low emissions zone (ULEZ) charge in September.
“This is a tax on working people that will cost patients their lives, and so must be abolished immediately. Rishi Sunak needs to grow a pair and force Khan to back down and rip out the ULEZ cameras across all of London,” Mullins said in a statement today.
The businessman, who sold his plumbing empire for more than £140m in 2021, added: “It ain’t right to force people to pay sixty odd quid a week (£12.50 a day) just to go to work.
“This is people’s livelihoods we’re talking about, and even more scary is that Khan is putting patients’ lives at risk. Mark my words, ULEZ on Tuesday, deaths on Wednesday.”
ULEZ expansion means the charging zone now covers the entire 32 boroughs of the capital, and drivers of vehicles which do not meet emissions standards must pay a £12.50 daily fee, or risk being fined – in a bid by City Hall to clean up the city’s air and reduce pollution.
The Prime Minister has also criticised the rollout today, telling broadcasters: “I think people and families are struggling with the cost of living, that is obvious to everyone.
“And at that time, the Labour Party, mayor Sadiq Khan and Keir Starmer are introducing the ULEZ charge which is going to hit working families.
“I don’t think that’s the right priority, I don’t think that’s the right thing to do and I wish they hadn’t done it.”
Keith Prince, City Hall Conservatives transport spokesperson, said: “The expanded ULEZ will have a nominal impact on air quality, but will hit those least able to pay the hardest; including small businesses and charities that cannot afford to upgrade their vehicles”.
Read more:
Pimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins says he will pay nurses’ ULEZ charges and calls for policy to be binned

Calls are increasing for the UK’s £4 billion-a-year share trading tax to be reduced or scrapped in an effort to reinvigorate our capital markets.
When buying shares Brits are charged a stamp duty of 0.5 per cent on the purchase price.
Over the weekend Chinese authorities slashed their own stamp duty on shares to give battered equity markets a shot in the arm.
Some are now calling for similar here.
James Ashton, the chief executive of the Quoted Companies Alliance, said a move to scrap the share trading tax would be a “bold” move to give London’s stock markets some much needed life.
A combination of take-private deals and a low price to earning ratio across the capital’s equity markets have seen many in the City fear for the reputation of London as a listing destination.
Ashton described the tax as “a dampener that doesn’t even exist on Wall Street.”
The Treasury brought in £3.7bn from the tax in 2022-23, after a £4.4bn windfall the year before.
Imposing stamp duty on the buying of shares puts off investors, leaves Britain at a competitive disadvantage compared to our international rivals and makes us all poorer in the long run. Like any transaction tax – for example, the stamp duty imposed on house-buying – it results in less of the activity being taxed,” said Nick King, a research fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies and author of the recent report aimed at invigorating London’s stock markets, Retail Therapy. 
“That not only means less liquidity in the market, but that all our pension funds and savings end up being smaller, through a thousand tiny cuts of the knife.”
Richard Wilson, the chief executive of retail investment platform Interactive Investor, has also called for the tax to be axed to encourage pension funds into equity markets rather than bonds.
“Pension companies are increasingly cost conscious, and stamp duty is another unnecessary barrier to investing in UK shares.”
The comments point to a plunge in pension funds’ holding of UK equities in the past two decades and a mass migration to fixed income assets. The move has in part been triggered by tax tweaks rolled out in the early 2000s.
Read more:
Axe £4bn-a-year share tax holding back stock markets, government told

A government financing guarantee helps award-winning metal recycling and waste management specialist Ward supercharge its export growth and achieve its highest annual turnover yet.
With the UK generating over 222 million tonnes of waste each year, recycling and waste management are booming sectors. They also export to a growing international market, helping this country manage its waste more sustainably while at the same time supporting jobs, boosting trade and helping to grow the economy. This is something which Ward, one of the UK’s largest independently owned recycling firms, can attest to.
The fourth-generation family business achieved record turnover and international sales in 2023 at £312m, thanks in part to backing from UK Export Finance (UKEF), the government department responsible for issuing loans, guarantees and insurance. This service is available to ensure that no viable export fails for want of finance.
Ward specialises in metal recycling and waste management, helping a range of sectors reduce their impact on the environment by collecting their materials and recycling as much as possible. It serves a growing export market for recycled scrap metal, shipping reclaimed material to a global client base.
In 2022, HSBC UK agreed to provide export funding with backing from UKEF to help Ward expand and meet significant demand for recycled metal from clients in India, Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt. HSBC UK secured a loan guarantee from UKEF for an extra £9 million in financing, with the guarantee issued under UKEF’s General Export Facility product; this allowed HSBC UK to release the funding to Ward.
Through its GEF product, UKEF provides partial guarantees to banks which help UK exporters gain access to trade finance facilities.
Ward has since used the additional funds to increase the amount of metal for export which is processed and stored at its docks in Immingham and more recently Cardiff. This allows it to load multiple ships simultaneously – each carrying up to 20,000 tonnes of material – and therefore export more metal in less time. In March 2023, less than a year after UKEF unlocked this £9 million financing deal, Ward achieved its highest monthly export sales of metals.
Tim Reid, CEO of UK Export Finance, said: “Stories like Ward’s show how UKEF, working with financial institutions like HSBC UK, can unlock new exporting opportunities for firms across the country.
“Backed by the right financing, innovative businesses like Ward are supporting growth and reducing waste in the UK whilst making global supply chains more sustainable – this is something which we are proud to support”.
James Balfour, Finance Director at Ward, said: “We have seen a phenomenal year of growth since this financing was agreed. Support from UKEF and HSBC UK has allowed us to bring our exporting business to new heights, especially in Asia and the Middle-East. I’m excited to see how our team can build on this success.”
Ward’s exporting success was recognized with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Excellence in International Trade in 2022.
Read more:
UK Export Finance drives export success for Derbyshire-based recycling firm WARD

58 per cent of UK employees believe they’ve been denied a promotion due to lack of digital skills, according to new research.
Alongside this, 58 per cent of workers believe that their organisation doesn’t have enough time to train staff effectivity, with younger staff feeling particularly neglected  as 70 per of those between 18 and 24 agree.
The findings were revealed by a survey of 250 decision makers at UK financial institutions and banks, polled via independent polling agency Censuswide, to discover how the Financial Services is being affected by the current skills crisis.
To solve issue, 91 per cent of workers claim that their organisation offers upskilling or reskilling opportunities to staff, promoting in-house development.
63 per cent of workers believe that the costs of upskilling or reskilling are too high and have prevented their organisation from offering these programmes. This worryingly jumps to 94 per cent between 18- and 24-year-olds.
A further 84 per cent of workers believe that their organisation would benefit from outsourcing digital training for staff in order to keep costs down while providing sufficient training opportunity.
It was also revealed that three quarters of workers believe that staff have resisted new technology due to a lack of understanding or digital skills, of which 86 per cent of 18-24-year-olds agreed.
Sheila Flavell CBE, Chief Operating Officer for FDM Group, commented: “Tech skills have become essential across all industries, in particular the financial services with the increasing adoption in areas such as AI and analytics. The scarcity of skilled tech professionals is holding back the industry from effectively implementing new technologies, ultimately stunting the growth of many financial services institutions.”
“Bridging the widening digital skills gap is an important area for businesses to prioritise. Promoting measures such as access to digital skills training programmes can empower staff development and give them the foundation to take up highly skilled roles in banking, FinTech and financial services.”
“Outsourcing digital training to staff and providing access to training and upskilling can offer a wider pool of staff the opportunity to improve their skills, plugging the skills gap within the industry. Solving the skills gap faced by businesses in the financial services sector isn’t an overnight task, but it is important to deliver constant progress towards solving this issue and propelling the industry forward” Flavell added.
Read more:
Almost 60% believe they’ve been denied a promotion due to a lack of digital skills

The business experts at Forbes Advisor have conducted an analysis of the most recent UK business demography statistics report from the Office for National Statistics.
Findings indicate a significant decline in the number of businesses added to the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2023, compared to the same period in the previous year (14% decrease).
Overall, 77,095 new businesses were registered during this quarter, compared with 89,875 registered in Q2 2022.
London saw the highest number of ‘births’ compared to any other region in the UK, with 16,260 new businesses registered in Q2 2023. Wales had the most significant decrease, with 2,580 businesses born in Q2 2023 compared to 3,465 in Q2 2022 (-34%)
Further analysis reveals a drop in business creations across 14 out of 16 main industrial groups in Q2 2023, year-on-year. The transport and storage sector experienced the most substantial decrease, recording a 59% fall in the number of business ‘births’.
The analysis highlights an improvement in business survival rates during the period. The data shows a 15% decrease in business closures year-on-year during Q2 2023. In total 84,150 businesses were removed from the IDBR, as opposed to the 99,440 closures recorded in Q2 2022.
Sectors experiencing the greatest growth and decline in business ‘births’
All but two of the sixteen sectors analysed experienced a decline in business births. The largest number of business birth rates was recorded in the Health and Social Care sector with 3,400 business births in Q2 2023 vs 3,125 in Q2 2022 (+8%).
The Real Estate sector witnessed a modest rise in new business establishments, marking a slight increase (+0.6%) from 3,090 businesses registered in Q2 2022, compared with 3,110 in Q2 2023.
Following that, the Professional, Scientific, and Technical industries experienced a small decline compared to the previous year, with a marginal decrease (-0.7%) from 12,455 in Q2 2022 to 12,360 in Q2 2023 .
The sectors which recorded the greatest decrease in business births were those in Transportation and storage, which saw a 59% plummet from 8,950 in Q2 2022, to 3,665 in Q2 2023. This was followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing, which saw a 23% decrease from 1,030 in Q2 2022 to just 785 in Q2 2023. Finance and insurance, saw a 12% fall from 1,015 in Q2 2022, vs 885 in Q2 2023.
Kevin Pratt, business commentator at Forbes Advisor, says: “It is extremely challenging to launch a new business in an era of climbing interest rates on borrowing, stubbornly high inflation and a general cost of living squeeze. Little surprise, then, that we’ve seen a significant drop in the number of new firms being added to the ONS register in recent months.
“The fact that 14 out of 16 sectors have seen a decline is an indication of how widespread the problem is across UK plc. Entrepreneurial activity is the bedrock of the country’s economic success, and a sustained downturn would have far-reaching consequences.
“Businesses are battling high input costs, supply chain snags and reduced consumer demand in many sectors. There are glimmers of hope from the recent drop in the inflation rate and the possibility that the expected rise in the Bank of England Bank Rate next week might be the last of the current cycle. Falling wholesale energy prices will also boost confidence. We certainly need some good news to help arrest the decline in new business activity.”
Read more:
London becomes home to over 16,000 new businesses – the highest recorded compared to the rest of the UK