Coronavirus and your Business update

The Covid-19 outbreak is understandably causing concern businesses throughout the country and we have provided below the updated information and links on what help is available to you and your business.

Our Specialist Advisory Services, which is made up of our Business Recovery & Insolvency, Corporate Finance and Tax departments, are available to help you, providing advice and support through these unprecedented times and the coming months.

Who to Contact

Christopher Brown
Business Recovery & Insolvency Partner
chris.brown@hartshaw.co.uk
Mob: 07788 186 181

Emma Legdon
Business Recovery & Insolvency Partner
emma.legdon@hartshaw.co.uk
Mob: 07717 727 061

Patrick Abel
Corporate Finance Partner
patrick.abel@hartshaw.co.uk
Mob: 07795 337 113

Steve Vickers
Tax Partner
steve.vickers@hartshaw.co.uk
Mob: 07765 236 690

Business Support Grant

Sheffield City Council have opened the portal for applications for the business support grant for businesses who pay business rates to Sheffield City Council. Click here to start your application.

Time to Pay

Any business that pays tax to the UK government and has outstanding tax liabilities will be able to apply for a Time To Pay Arrangement with HMRC.

HMRC changed the number of its dedicated helpline to 0800 024 1222 The helpline will be open Monday to Friday between 8am to 4pm

Deferment of VAT and Self-Assessment payments

All UK business are eligible, and the scheme will run until 30 June 2020.  Businesses will be given until the end of the 2020/2021 financial year to pay all outstanding VAT liabilities that have accumulated as a result of the 3-month deferral.

HMRC have also agreed that the self-assessment payment due by 31 July 2020 can be deferred if you are unable to make the payment.  This payment must be paid with the next instalment due by 31 January 2021.

If you or your business pays by direct debit for either of these you must cancel the direct debit, whilst remembering to reinstate it for the following payment due date.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Employers can access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, where either all or some employees are classified as a furloughed worker.

The crucial points are that:

• the employee remains on the payroll;
• those laid off temporarily cannot work for the company during the lay-off;
• the employer must decide to make an employee a furloughed worker, but the employee must agree in a side letter;
• the underlying contract and contractual position between employer and employee is not changed, it’s sort of continuing in the background during the lay-off.

If the employee’s salary is reduced as a result of these changes, they may be eligible for support through the welfare system, including Universal Credit.

The government intends for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to run for at least 3 months from 1 March 2020, but will extend if necessary.

The rebate application will be done on-line through a government portal, which should be operational within a month. Currently the employer pays the salary of the furloughed worker, and can pay 80% of the salary subject to the maximum of £2,500 per month, and claims this back from the government.  An employer can choose to top up the furloughed workers salary.

Further details can be found here, or please contact us for more information.

Self-Employed Income Support Scheme

The Self-Employed Income Support Scheme was announced and will allow such individuals to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of an individual’s monthly earnings calculated using an average from the last three years up to £2500 a month.

To be eligible for the scheme individuals must:

• have trading profits of less than £50,000 a year
• make the majority of their income from self-employment and
• have filed a tax return for the year 2018/19 with HMRC.

If an individual missed the 31st January 2020 tax return filing deadline, the Government will allow a further four weeks from 26th March to submit the relevant return in order to benefit from this scheme and individuals should therefore contact their accountant as a matter of urgency to ensure that this return is submitted within the extension.

Access to these Grants will be available from June 2020 so the Government are encouraging those who need it to look at the Business Interruption Loan Scheme and/or applying for Universal Credit to give the additional support.

Applications cannot be made for the scheme as yet. HMRC will contact individuals if they are eligible and then send an invitation to apply online.  Individuals are advised not to contact HMRC at this stage as doing so will delay the work being undertaken to introduce the scheme.

Once HMRC has received the claim and confirmed that the individual is eligible for the grant the HMRC will contact the self-employed individual to advise the amount to be paid and the payment details.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (“CBILS”)

The British Business Bank are launching the scheme the week commencing Monday 23 March 2020 to support businesses with a turnover up to £45million, the government are guaranteeing the lender for 80% of the loan amount.  The maximum loan amount has been increased to £5million with no interest charged for 12 months for a period up to 6 years.

Applications should be made to your bank but any questions you have regarding this can be directed to Patrick Abel, Corporate Finance Partner on 07795 337 113 at patrick.abel@hartshaw.co.uk

Hart Shaw Specialist Advisory Services

www.hartshaw.co.uk
www.hartshaw.co.uk/news/covid-19

Coronavirus and your Business

The recent Covid-19 outbreak is understandably causing concern for businesses throughout the country.  

The government is holding daily press conferences which include various measures to assist those businesses affected at this time.  

Our Specialist Advisory Services, which is made up of our Business Recovery & Insolvency, Corporate Finance and Tax departments, are available to help you, providing advice and support through these unprecedented times and the coming months. 

 

Who to Contact  

Christopher Brown
Business Recovery & Insolvency Partner
chris.brown@hartshaw.co.uk
Mob: 07788 186 181  

Emma Legdon
Business Recovery & Insolvency Partner
emma.legdon@hartshaw.co.uk
Mob: 07717 727 061  

Patrick Abel
Corporate Finance Partner
patrick.abel@hartshaw.co.uk
Mob: 07795 337 113  

Steve Vickers
Tax Partner
steve.vickers@hartshaw.co.uk
Mob: 07765 236 690

 

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (“CBILS”)  

The British Business Bank are launching the scheme the week commencing Monday 23 March 2020 to support businesses with a turnover up to £45million, the government are guaranteeing the lender for 80% of the loan amount. The maximum loan amount has been increased to £5million with no interest charged for 12 months for a period up to 6 years. 

Applications should be made to your bank but any questions you have regarding this can be directed to Patrick Abel, Corporate Finance Partner patrick.abel@hartshaw.co.uk   

 

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme  

The scheme is available to all UK employers regardless of size, employers must determine which of their employees are “furloughed workers” and inform these particular employees. HMRC will then reimburse 80% of the furloughed workers wage costs up to a cap of £2,500 per month. The scheme will be backdated to 1 March 2020 and in place for 3 months, before being reviewed. The current guidance state that “You will remain employed while furloughed. Your employer could choose to fund the differences between this payment and your salary, but does not have to.” 

Changing the status of employees remains subject to existing employment law and, depending on the employment contract, may be subject to negotiation.  

 

Deferment of VAT payments  

All UK business are eligible and the scheme will run until 30 June 2020. Businesses will be given until the end of the 2020/2021 financial year to pay all outstanding VAT liabilities that have accumulated as a result of the 3 month deferral.  

 

Time to Pay  

Any business that pays tax to the UK government and has outstanding tax liabilities will be able to apply for a Time To Pay Arrangement with HMRC. This applies to all businesses including the self-employed. HMRC have set up a dedicated helpline for this: 0800 0159 559 

SCR Breakfast Club – February 2019

Hart Shaw Chartered Accountants and Acumen Credit Insurance Brokers are delighted to announce the next Sheffield City Region Breakfast Club, which is taking place at the Advanced Manufacturing Park between 8:00am and 9:30am on Wednesday 13th February 2019.

The format of the meeting is open networking followed by a short discussion and Q&A session.

Building your authentic personal brand

This month we will be joined by Faye Smith, Managing Director at Keep Your Fork Ltd. Multi award-winning PR and marketing consultancy Keep Your Fork brings together a team of professionals from well-respected journalists to digital marketing experts with vast experience covering all areas of marketing and public relations, media, personal and business branding and development. We tell your story and communicate your success to deliver the results you deserve.

The evening was such a huge success! Great turn out and amazing responses from people too. I’ve loved getting my 3 word back from friends and colleagues, thankfully all have been positive.

Thanks again for all you shared and your amazing stories. I know this is a Colab that our attendees will really remember and feel empowered by!

Liza Dacre, Sheffield Business Colab

Thank you for speaking last night. You are brilliant at seeing the stories in ordinary people’s lives and giving people the confidence to see it and share it.  I learnt a lot and came away smiling and more confident.

Daniel Neath, sport community development

Details

Date: Wednesday 13th February 2019

Time: 8:00am for breakfast sandwiches and open networking, followed by a brief presentation, with Q&A and further networking until 9:30am

Venue: Advanced Manufacturing Park, Technology Centre, Brunel Way, Catcliffe, Rotherham, S60 5WG

The breakfast club is FREE to attend and you are very welcome to bring a guest or a colleague.

To confirm your attendance please contact Emma Legdon at Hart Shaw on T: 0114 251 8850 or email: emma.legdon@hartshaw.co.uk

It is essential that you pre-book as we regularly reach capacity at the venue. Places are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment!

We look forward to seeing you there.

The Larger They Are, The Harder They Fall!

The compulsory liquidation of Carillion is a timely reminder that no company, however large and high profile, is immune from failure. Carillion was placed into liquidation on 15 January 2018 owing around £1.5 billion to its creditors and putting thousands of jobs at risk.

The effect of any insolvency is that creditors suddenly have a bad debt to deal with and the larger the debt, the more likely that it will cause otherwise solvent companies to have their own cashflow problems.

This can lead to a domino effect where the failure of one company causes the failure of another, and so on down the supply chain. It has been estimated that up to 30,000 companies are owed money by Carillion, many of whom may be at risk of failing if they do not take action.

Over the years I have seen similar cases, where financially sound companies are suddenly put at risk following the failure of one of their customers. Not only do they suffer a large bad debt but they also lose a customer and future business they were relying on.

If your company finds itself in a similar situation it is essential to move quickly and take professional advice, ideally from a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner who has helped companies in similar situations before.

Immediate steps that can be taken to protect your company include restructuring the business to reflect the ongoing order book and negotiating payment plans with major creditors, such as HM Revenue & Customs. In more serious cases it may be necessary to propose a Company Voluntary Arrangement with creditors to ensure that the company is able to continue trading until its finances are restored.

Companies should also reflect on what they can do to protect themselves from future bad debts.  Assess the credit worthiness of your customers, set credit limits to reflect the commercial risk you are prepared to take and stick to them. Consider credit insurance as protection for a customer failing. Not only would a debt being insured be paid, you will have access to improved credit intelligence on your customers.

Whatever situation your business finds itself in — it’s never too early to seek advice.

Christopher Brown                                                                                                              Partner                                                                                                                                                    Hart Shaw Business Recovery & Insolvency

 

 

New Financial Year brings new Partner for Hart Shaw

Hart Shaw Chartered Accountants & Business Advisers is delighted to announce Emma Legdon as a new Partner within the

Managing Partner Paul Dawson welcoming new Business Recovery & Insolvency Partner, Emma Legdon.

Sheffield based firm.

Emma’s rise to the top completes what is a great success story since joining Hart Shaw in a temporary administrative role in 1993.

Working her way up the Managerial ladder, Emma qualified as an Insolvency Practitioner in 2011 and obtained her license in 2012 before being made a Partner of the firm on 1^st April 2013.

Emma comments: “I am very proud to have been named a Partner in a firm with the stature and history of Hart Shaw.

“Having been with the firm for all of my working life it is a great personal achievement and I feel very honoured that the current Partner group think enough of me to invite me to join them, which I have duly accepted.”

Managing Partner, Paul Dawson comments: “The appointment of Emma Legdon as a partner on 1^st of April shows that there is no bar on anybody reaching the top. Emma joined us as an office junior 20 years ago and has worked hard to get to where she is today. Well done to her, she is a role model for everybody within the firm.”

Emma will be leading the Business Recovery & Insolvency department at Hart Shaw, along with fellow Insolvency Partner Christopher Brown.

Emma comments on the current economic climate: “The past 12 months in the Recovery & Insolvency department have been tough compared to recent years, in part due to the uncertainty in the economy.

“If, as predicted, the economy slowly starts to improve this is when we could see businesses struggle with cash availability and not be able to fund their working capital requirements.”

Follow Emma on LinkedIn

Hart Shaw Business Recovery & Insolvency

New Licensed Insolvency Practitioner for Hart Shaw

Hart Shaw Chartered Accountants & Business Advisers has added to its number of Licensed Insolvency Practitioners in its Business

Christopher Brown, Business Recovery & Insolvency Partner congratulating Hart Shaw’s new Licensed Insolvency Practitioner Emma Legdon.

Recovery & Insolvency Department.

Emma Legdon, who has been with the firm since 1994, qualified as an Insolvency Practitioner in 2011 and has now obtained her license, joining Senior Partner Andrew Maybery and Business Recovery & Insolvency Partner Christopher Brown as licensed Insolvency Practitioners within the firm.

Emma comments: “I am delighted to have obtained my license to become the first female Insolvency Practitioner at Hart Shaw.

“With an increasing number of businesses and individuals experiencing financial difficulty in the region, having an extra Insolvency Practitioner at Hart Shaw means we are able to provide more help to people in their time of need.

“We encourage anyone who is experiencing financial distress, either personally or via the businesses that they own and run, to seek professional advice as early as possible as this will increase the options available to them.”

Follow Emma on LinkedIn

Hart Shaw Business Recovery & Insolvency

The Adviser – Business Recovery special

The latest issue of Hart Shaw’s Adviser newsletter is now available to download from our website.

The Adviser – Business Recovery Special

This special edition focuses on Business Recovery.

In this edition we cover some of the key issues surrounding under performing businesses and the steps they can take to ensure business survival and long term growth.

Typically a negative subject, we intend to shed some light onto the options available and provide reassurances that employing an Insolvency Practitioner does not always spell the end for a business.

We focus on a key case study of Timberline Ltd, in which Hart Shaw helped to save a struggling business, saving numerous jobs in the process, highlighting how different departments at Hart Shaw work together to achieve a positive outcome for the client.

Strategic steps to help protect your business in the current economic climate were presented in a recent seminar, which is reviewed in this issue.

We hope you find our Business Recovery edition of interest and we welcome your feedback.

You can get in touch by email via: adviser@hartshaw.co.uk

Click here to download your copy.

www.hartshaw-bri.co.uk

Hart Shaw Business Recovery & Insolvency exhibiting at the North Notts Business & Innovation Show

Hart Shaw’s Business Recovery & Insolvency department are exhibiting at the North Notts Business & Innovation Show taking place at the North Notts Arena in Worksop on Thursday 14th June 2012.

The exhibition is open from 9:30am until 4:00pm and is free to attend.

With over 80 exhibitors confirmed across various sectors, including the public sector and business support organisations from across the North Notts, South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire regions, this promises to be a fantastic event for the local business communities.

Hart Shaw will be showcasing its recovery services which are available to both businesses and individuals who are facing financial difficulties in these uncertain times.

Our service also extends to Advisers such as other firms of Accountants, Solicitors and Business coaches whose clients are facing uncertainty.

If you would like to discuss any matters affecting your business, your clients business or your own personal finance please come and pay us a visit.

 

The Business of Timberline Limited sold to Metalliform Holdings Limited

Following the appointment of Administrators from Hart Shaw, the business of Chesterfield based outdoor play equipment manufacturer, Timberline Ltd has been sold to Metalliform

Timberline Limited sold to Metalliform Holdings Limited

Holdings Ltd.

Timberline, which operates nationwide, also manufactures timber buildings & shelters from two large factories on the Foxwood Industrial Park, and has been trading for over 20 years. The Company suffered a severe down turn in business, as a result of the impact of the public sector spending cuts in the education market. The Company was placed into Administration on 2^nd November 2011 and Christopher Brown & Andrew Maybery, partners at Hart Shaw LLP, in Sheffield were appointed its Joint Administrators.

Metalliform, an experienced school furniture and stadium seating manufacturer based in Barnsley, are ideally positioned to turn the business round whilst also introducing new options into the product range.

Joint Administrator, Christopher Brown of Hart Shaw LLP, said: “Following our appointment we continued to trade the business while we marketed it for sale. We are delighted that the sale of the business is now complete. This is a fantastic outcome for all stakeholders – employees and creditors – of the business and the acquisition by Metalliform has saved 45 jobs.”

The Joint Administrators received support from the Corporate Finance team at Hart Shaw. Steve Bell, Head of Corporate Finance, said “The underlying business of Timberline has strong brand recognition and we attracted a high level of reputable companies looking to secure the business. The nature of the administration was such that we had to react very quickly and were able to prepare the information pack and arrange site visits shortly after appointment with the result that the sale was completed within 6 weeks.”

Metalliform has manufactured furniture for schools, colleges and universities for more than 60-years.  The company employs 90 staff at its Barnsley production site and has a turnover of £8m.    

Peter Brier, Chief Executive of Metalliform Holdings, said: “Timberline is a business that has a good customer base and a skilled workforce. We are very pleased to have concluded this deal quickly as this presented the best chance to preserve jobs. There are good synergies between the two businesses in terms of operating markets and manufacturing capabilities. We plan to use these to the benefit of both businesses.”

In addition to school furniture, Metalliform also manufactures and installs sports stadium seats through its subsidiary company Arena Stadium Seating. 

Follow these links for further press on this story:

Insider

Business Desk

For further information about our services please click the following links:

Business Recovery & Insolvency

Corporate Finance

SMEs slipping up on credit checks

Almost three-quarters of small and medium-sized UK businesses are failing to check on their customers’ creditworthiness, according to new research.

Global information services company Experian surveyed nearly 700 UK small businesses and found that 71 per cent did not check their customers’ credit status, increasing their risk of being paid late or not at all.

The recent survey also found that 39 per cent of small businesses did not know what a credit score was and 61 per cent have never checked their own score, leaving them unaware of issues that could lead to them being turned down for finance or refused materials by a new supplier.

Experian said that for small businesses, low scores can stem from a lack of detailed data about the business or a failure to file complete or accurate information, rather than underlying financial insecurity.

Two-thirds of small businesses may be blind to their credit scores, but their larger customers, suppliers and banks certainly won’t be.

It is important for businesses to monitor their credit score on a regular basis to ensure it reflects their situation accurately and to be able to take action to resolve any issues that are highlighted.

Simply taking the steps to check the credit score of firms before doing business with them is straightforward and affordable, and it could make all the difference.

For further information about how to manage your credit score please contact Chris Brown, Business Recovery & Insolvency Partner at Hart Shaw on T: 0114 251 8850.

chris.brown@hartshaw.co.uk

www.hartshaw-bri.co.uk

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