Small businesses considering taking on an apprentice have a new financial incentive to investigate following the introduction, from 1 October 2026, of a £2,000 hiring payment for eligible employers in England that do not pay the apprenticeship levy and recruit an apprentice aged between 16 and 24. The incentive forms part of the Government's wider…
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Could experience solve your recruitment problem?
When businesses think about recruitment, they can easily concentrate on attracting younger workers. The latest employment figures suggest there may be another group worth considering.Official PAYE statistics for August 2026 show that the number of payrolled employees aged 65 and over increased by 62,000 compared with August 2025. Over the same period, the number aged…
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Are you ready to payroll employee benefits?
Another significant change to payroll is now only six months away.From 6 April 2027, employers will have to report and account for tax on several common benefits in kind through payroll in real time.The first phase covers company cars, car fuel, vans, van fuel and employer-provided medical benefits.At present, many employers deal with benefits after…
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What would a 10 percent sales fall do to your business?
Most business plans assume that things will broadly go according to plan. Unfortunately, customers, suppliers and the economy do not always cooperate. One useful exercise is therefore to ask what would happen if sales unexpectedly fell by 10%.The answer may be reassuring. Alternatively, it may reveal that the business has far less room for manoeuvre…
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