Four-fifths of members said they would like to do more to support the communities in which they operated but were prevented from doing so by legal barriers, such as Criminal Records Bureau checks or rules which prevent welfare claimants taking part in longer work placements.
Many of the executives surveyed also called for the provision of ‘brokers’ – who could be seconded from local firms – to put companies who wanted to help in touch with projects which needed support. This would prove more efficient than dealing with requests for help on an ad hoc basis, they said.
It is certainly pleasing to see companies demonstrating such a sense of corporate responsibility and although it can never be guaranteed that good intentions will translate into improvements on the ground, there is certainly little for the government to lose by making it as easy as possible for the business community to put its aims into action.
David Cameron has pledged to tackle the issues raised ‘head on’, so it will be interesting to see whether making these changes will have the desired effect. For Mr Cameron to succeed in his plan for the voluntary sector to fill the gap filled by a shrinking state, he needs businesses to play their part.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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( 3 / 773 )New figures show that fewer businesses are deferring tax payments through the HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) Time to Pay scheme, designed to help businesses during the economic downturn.
Figures highlighted by UK independent finance provider Syscap show that the value of Time to Pay arrangements granted by HMRC fell by 45 per cent over the last year from £830 million in Q3 2009 to just £460 million in Q3 2010. In the last quarter alone, arrangements fell 16 per cent from £550 million in Q2 2010.
R3, the Association of Business Recovery Professionals, said that the decline in the number and value of Time to Pay arrangements during 2010 reflected more favourable conditions for businesses post-recession and that the scheme had worked well in preventing the spike in corporate insolvency numbers that typically follows the end of a recession.
But it said that R3 research looking at the challenges facing businesses in 2011 found that almost a third (29 per cent) of insolvency experts thought that a squeeze on Time to Pay would be the most harmful potential development. The impact of public sector cutbacks and a modest rise in interest rates were joint second, with 23 percent each.
R3 President Steven Law said: “Our members have seen how invaluable the Time to Pay scheme has been to businesses. We believe that it is important that it remains available as a breathing space for viable businesses, but that it is not used as an alternative credit facility for ‘zombie companies’.”
R3 describes “zombie companies” as those that are able to service debt but not fund expansion.
LINK: Time to Pay (Business Payment Support Service)
LINK: R3 press release
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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( 3 / 756 )As the nation slips and slides its way to work on yet another snowy day, here’s a spot of pre-Christmas cheer to warm us.
The latest Markit/CIPS purchasing managers' index (PMI), which surveys more than 600 businesses, reports that the pace of manufacturing growth hit a 16-year high in November, with factories recruiting at the fastest rate since the PMI began in 1992.
The index now stands at 58, up from 55.4 in October. With an index reading above 50 indicating expansion, British manufacturing seems to be making itself at home in growth territory.
And the record increase in recruitment also backs up expectations that the private sector will be able to replace the 330,000 public sector jobs now expected to be lost over the next four years.
These positive results are timely. It was only on Monday that Chancellor George Osborne said the UK was moving from a debt-based economy to one that invests and exports and part of the upward surge in manufacturing was due to increased demand overseas.
The health of the manufacturing sector also helps to strengthen the UK recovery as we prepare for the increase in VAT in January and the full impact of the cuts announced in October’s Spending Review make themselves felt.
Taken with the construction PMI due today and the services PMI due tomorrow, these results could be a significant indicator of just how firm the UK’s economic footing is as we gear up for the challenges of 2011.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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( 2.9 / 797 )There’s some interesting food for thought today as search engine Yahoo! releases its top ten most searched for topics in the UK over the last year.
The results pretty accurately reflect the rather downbeat tone and economic uncertainty of 2010. Perhaps in hope rather than in expectation, top of the list was lottery, a new entry in Yahoo!’s most searched for chart.
On a more realistic note, second spot was taken by job centre, which moved up one place from 2009 when it was a new entry. Weather, also a new entry, was in third.
In a time of austerity, it’s also good to see there’s room for a spot of celebrity obsession to take our minds off the gloom. Cheryl Cole was in fifth place, shooting up from number eight, while Katie Price held on to her top ten spot, though slipping from last year’s eight place to ninth.
No doubt this is all a bit of fun, and a good opportunity to grab some headlines for Yahoo!, but the results still provide an intriguing insight into the national mindset.
In amongst the light-hearted stuff – Big Brother at number four, for example, TV guide at six and World Cup at seven (although, as we know, football is much more important than life or death) – it’s clear, as Yahoo! says, that we are “a worried nation, concerned about our futures”.
What will prove to be the hot topics in 2011 remains to be seen…although with horoscopes a new entry in the chart at number ten, it seems we are also turning to the stars for a glimpse into the future.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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( 3 / 743 )Taken together, yesterday’s double whammy of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s latest economic and fiscal outlook report and Chancellor George Osborne’s autumn statement delivered a pretty united front.
The message seems to be one of we’re not out of the woods just yet, but we’re heading in the right direction. Or to mix our metaphors: there’s definitely light at the end of the tunnel.
There’s also clear recognition that changes have to be made to make life easier for the private sector businesses that everyone is depending on so heavily to drive the recovery, so Mr Osborne’s plans for consultation on simplifying the corporate tax regime and a cross-government Growth Review designed to identify how barriers that hold back the private sector can be broken down will be welcome.
But the nature of running a business means that those who do so are a hard-headed lot. The coalition government has made making life easier for business a recurrent theme of its administration but six months in, business owners and entrepreneurs might be wondering how much has changed so far.
Many of them may agree with David Frost, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce when he says: “The review discusses the need to create the right framework for growth, and acknowledges the contribution made by small and medium-sized enterprises. The question remains as to whether government can remove the real barriers that prevent businesses from thriving.”
Mr Frost calls for issues such as planning, access to credit, and burdensome employment legislation to be tackled head on. Only then, he says, will the business community be able to play its part and drive the recovery forward.
The review will start with an intensive programme of work, based on the evidence provided by business, to report by the 2011 Budget. Businesses will no doubt be hoping Mr Osborne will be able to deliver some real barrier-breaking measures on 23 March.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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