Matthew Melksham Corporate Manager Haines Watts N. Devon gives his view on today's budget

 The Chancellor spoke for 55 minutes in total giving his fourth budget, the key points for our clients are:

·         Personal allowances to £10,000 by April 2014 - No income tax to pay on the first £9,440 earned from 5 April 2013 & rising to £10,000 from 5 April 2014. This places cash back into the hands of the lower paid in society and so will help disposable income.

·         Reduction in top rate of income tax down to 45% – From April 2013 the highest rate of tax will fall from 50% to 45%, this was one of the government’s policy promises.

·         Small Employer Allowance -  From 1 April 2014 employers will have not have to pay employers tax for the first £2,000. This means that a business can employ either 1 employee on £22,000 or 4 staff on minimum wage and not pay any additional tax. This should help start up businesses and those wishing to take on that extra member of senior staff.

·         Helping hand for the house market – There is a raft of measures to encourage people to buy new homes including a government backed guarantee so home owners puts 5% in and then the government pays 20%. This makes financing the purchase of new homes more affordable and achievable.

·         No rise in fuel duty – The expected rise in fuel duty of 1.89p has been scrapped, fuel is a large cost for employers and employees and so not to having to find this rise is good but not a real term saving for our clients.

·         Single rate of Corporation tax – In April 2015 the rate of corporation tax will reduce to 20% making it the joint lowest in Europe. This continues to make it potentially tax advantageous to be a company rather than trading in other business vehicles.

·         Tax free child care – This is to be phased in from Autumn 2015 and will give a tax credit for up to 20% or £1,200 of childcare costs per child. This is trying to make it pay for people to return to work and cover the ever increasing cost of childcare.

·         Access to finance – Extension of the Enterprise Finance and Enterprise capital fund should bring further access to business angel lending.

I see this as a mixed budget with growth being downgraded but with some ideas on how to try to get the local economy going. In North Devon we need more people with disposable income to help our retail sectors which have faced a tough few years, plus the additional shot in the arm for house building could help kick start our local economy.

If you want to know what the budget may mean to you please do just give me a call in the office.

http://www.hwca.com/accountants-north-devon/

Matthew Melksham
Senior Manager Direct Dial: 01237 428 213
Mobile: 07775 921 702

	North Devon Telephone: 01237 471 736 Sully House, 7 Clovelly Road Industrial Estate Bideford, Devon, EX39 3HN

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‘Going For Gold At Chelsea’ – Top Garden Designer to Deliver Prestigious Lecture

The Garden House at Buckland Monachorum is widely regarded as one of the country’s finest gardens, and is especially renowned for its exciting and innovative garden design and planting.  Therefore, it seems appropriate that the country’s leading contemporary garden designer is to deliver the 2013 Fortescue Garden House Lecture.

Each year the Fortescue Garden Trust, the charity which owns The Garden House, invites an individual recognised as having made a major contribution to horticulture or gardening in Britain, to deliver this prestigious annual lecture.  The Trust is honoured and delighted that Cleve West, who has achieved the rare distinction of winning back-to-back ‘Best in Show Awards’ at the RHS Chelsea Show, has accepted this year’s invitation.

Cleve has won seven gold medals, but winning Gold at Chelsea as well as ‘Best in Show’ for his Daily Telegraph Garden in 2011 and then repeating these accolades  in 2012 with his stunning Brewin Dolphin Garden, has won him the admiration of all.  

The 53-year-old, who spent his 20s as an athlete hoping to compete in the long jump at the Olympics, said that he was thrilled to win at Chelsea in the year the Games came to London.  His 2012 garden, celebrating the 250^th anniversary of Brewin Dolphin, incorporated stone sentinels topped by flamed shaped finials holding up intricate iron gates that led onto an enormous 300-year-old mill head mounted on a wall.  Although Cleve is top of his profession, he claims his favourite gardening is in his London allotment and recently wrote a book on allotments – demonstrating his practical application to gardening as well as his more obvious artistic ability.

The Fortescue Garden House Lecture series is also generously sponsored by the Plymouth Office of Brewin Dolphin, and Cleve’s illustrated talk will focus on his national design work as well as provide an insight into the preparation and completion of his 2012 award-winning Brewin Dolphin Garden.   The lecture takes place at the Plymouth Postgraduate Medical Centre, Derriford at 7.00 pm on Friday 22 March.  Some tickets are still available – to book, please telephone The Garden House: 01822 854769.

www.thegardenhouse.org.uk

Exeter Business Expo gets off to a Flying Start!

The inaugural Business Expo ‘Business Gives Back’ held at Exeter Racecourse in aid of Devon Air Ambulance Trust (DAAT) during ‘National Air Ambulance Week’ is confirmed as a resounding success by organisers, thebestofexeter.  

More than 400 delegates had the opportunity to visit local business exhibition stands and seminars presented by key-note speakers chaired by Derek Philips plus 1:1 business clinics in ‘The Business Advice Centre’.  

The day kicked-off with an early morning ‘Big Breakfast’ chaired by Nick Agg-Manning and Exeter Chamber of Commerce hosted a networking lunch for members and non-members who pre-booked.  Each of the 100 exhibitors generously donated £17,000 worth of business prizes in line with the “Business Gives Back” ethos for the charity prize draw in aid of DAAT.  A total of £612 including a donation from thebestofexeter was raised for this worthy local cause during ‘National Air Ambulance Week.’

Tim Jones FRICS, Chairman - Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership gave the opening address and was joined by Michelle Downey Head of thebestof, Linda Bennett Managing Director of thebestofexeter and Caroline Creer Fundraising Director DAAT 

Michelle Downey Head of thebestof says:”Giving something back to the businesses of Exeter has been wholeheartedly achieved at the inaugural thebestofexeter Business Expo supporting a very worthy local cause. In my role as Head of thebestof I attend business events across the UK, yet the enthusiasm, passion and camaraderie I found at the Exeter Business Expo was amazing.  The help and support offered to each other by local businesses is incredible and there is a real sense of pride for independents in Exeter and Devon as a whole.  This was the launch of Business Gives Back Expo for thebestofexeter and it promises to get bigger and better.  When speaking to exhibitors throughout the course of the day, many are already keen to book for next year.”

www.bgbexpo.co.uk

Exam success for Brewin Dolphin Plymouth

The Plymouth office of Brewin Dolphin, one of the UK’s largest independently-owned private client wealth managers, has expanded significantly in the last 18 months bringing in three new trainee investment managers; Rory Kilbride, James Holt and Thomas Pearson. All three are looking to develop their careers in Plymouth and are keen to enhance the development of the Plymouth office. 

Recently Rory Kilbride passed his second of three Masters in Wealth Management papers while James Holt and Thomas Pearson passed the Private Client Advice paper to move onto the second paper. The masters in Wealth Management qualification is the top qualification offered by the CISI and will lead all three to becoming Chartered Wealth Managers in time. 

Brian James, Head of the Plymouth office, was delighted with the results adding “it is important for the future development of this office that we have young, well qualified staff, I am delighted with their successes. At Brewin Dolphin we have a comprehensive training programme and support all of our staff to attain their full industry qualifications.  We are always looking for talented individuals with the highest academic qualifications to join us.”

The Group provides a complete investment management and financial planning service for private investors, charities and pension funds. Stocktrade is the Group's Execution-Only telephone and on-line dealing division.

www.brewin.co.uk/