Hampshire & Dorset: Business leaders meet at Grant Thornton event to hear about future of finance
Business leaders from across Hampshire and Dorset came together last week (December 4) for Grant Thornton’s Technical Update and to discuss the highlights and implications from the recent Autumn Statement.
The event, held by leading business and financial adviser Grant Thornton UK LLP at St Mary’s Stadium, also gave businessmen and women a chance to hear about the latest changes in taxation, financial reporting and company law.
Over 20 businesses from across the region attended the seminar, including The Royal Naval Benevolent Trust; Red Funnel; Fat Face; Defence Science and Technology Laboratory; Manitou UK; Merlin Entertainments Group and Vitacress.
The event featured talks from several of Grant Thornton’s experts, including Norman Armstrong, partner of the Southampton office and Trudi Amy, tax director, who discussed the highlights from the chancellor’s Autumn Statement and how it relates to and impacts on local businesses.
Amanda James, associate director, led a presentation on company law, and Katie O’Neill, senior manager, discussed the main new UK GAAP standard, FRS 102, which will come into play on January 1.
There was a key focus on tax, including updates on corporation tax, employment taxes and VAT changes, with presentations by Grant Thornton’s Matthew Courtiour, Joe Francis and Michael Cooper, and the implications of the statement on the region’s mid-sized businesses (MSBs).
Commenting on this, Amy said: "While our analysis shows that MSBs have continued to drive the UK economic recovery and are set to contribute £294 billion to UK GDP in 2014, more could be done to help unlock their potential.
“We recognised that in order to speed up their growth, MSBs needed help in four key areas.
“Firstly, they wanted to boost their productivity and that means having a workforce well equipped with relevant skills. So the relief from the tax on jobs – employer's National Insurance contributions – where a company takes on an apprentice under the age of 25 is well targeted.
"In order to grow sales and help rebalance the deficit, MSBs need to trade more actively globally, especially with the higher-growth, non-traditional market. The announcement of £45 million of help for those exporting to regions outside of the traditional eurozone and North America is a step in the right direction and is a positive sign.
“A welcome development is that HMRC will launch a new approach to supporting MSBs in 2015, providing a gateway to specialist tax help, including temporary access to a named individual for MSBs transitioning through a key business change with significant tax implications. MSBs have consistently called for better directed help from HMRC and this is a positive step.
"Overall the recent Autumn release was positive for MSBs and growth-orientated business on the whole but the challenges they face and our determination to give voice to those will not go away."
Continuing on from the event, Grant Thornton will be holding its Growth Insight Breakfasts across the region in the New Year. For further information and to register interest contact Gemma Shannon at email: [email protected]
