Category: Finance

Coutts, the bank which boasts the Queen as a customer, has withdrawn free banking to customers with less than £250,000 in their accounts.

The role of the finance manager is fundamentally changing. During the recession, the emphasis has shifted from managing business growth to imposing tighter financial control. But organisations are still hamstrung by manual purchasing processes and a delegation of authority across the business which is making strong cost control hard to achieve.

“The closest real-world analogy to raising money, whether you are seeking it from venture capitalists, angel investors, or the three Fs (friends, fools, and family), is speed dating. That’s right: In five minutes, people decide if they are interested in you, just as in bars and nightclubs. This isn’t right, and it isn’t fair, but it’s reality.” —Guy Kawasaki, “Reality Check”

We highlight a few of the stand-out points of The Budget which affect you and your families pocket.

More than 4.5 million Britons (10 per cent) are planning to move in excess of £3.2 billion pounds between credit cards in the first three months of 2010, to take advantage of introductory balance transfer periods, new research from Santander Cards has revealed.

Motorcyclists can save up to 40% on the price of a bike following a quiet change to tax law, experts have said.

Buried in the recent Finance Act is a change which makes motorcycles used for work 100% tax deductable, according to leading accountants.

Cheques will be phased out by October 2018, as long as there are adequate alternatives developed by that time, the body that oversees payments strategy has said.

It is just a year since the Government rushed through, in a matter of days, a reduction in the VAT rate to 15%. We were told that this would stimulate the economy – whether it did or not is one for the political commentators – but the thirteen month temporary reduction is now almost at an end and we must prepare ourselves for a return to 17.5% VAT on 1 January 2010.

A recent study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development concluded that making job cuts should be the last resort in the current economic downturn, after revealing that the cost of laying off an employee could be more than £16,000. Against this another study revealed that 69% of Financial Directors feel under pressure from board colleagues to find more ways to cut costs.

New research reveals businesses could do much more to reduce their business expenditure as it isn’t just MPs and Cabinet Ministers that should have an eagle eye on their expenses. The same goes for businesses throughout the UK.

With the countdown to the New Year underway, new research reveals businesses are in for a tough time during the first quarter of next year. Bibby Financial Services is calling on business owners and managers to ensure they have their finances in order to help them avoid recessionary pressures and making cuts to their business.

A new scheme has been launched in Ireland called Outvesting to give new start-up businesses with an essential €5,000 of seed capital from investors all pulled together via Twitter.

PayPoint.net, the leading online payments provider, and ePages, the foremost provider for online shops and website solutions in Europe, have joined forces to offer a comprehensive, scalable shopping solution for small and medium-sized online merchants.

A recent study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development concluded that making job cuts should be the last resort in the current economic downturn, after revealing that the cost of laying off an employee could be more than £16,000.

Against this another study revealed that 69% of Financial Directors feel under pressure from board colleagues to find more ways to cut costs. With Britain now officially in recession, how does a business keep costs in check to maintain a healthy bottom line without necessarily making redundancies?