Local Chartered Accountants celebrate ‘Accountancy Firm of the Year’ award

The partners of Haines Watts North Devon LLP celebrate national success as ‘Accountancy Firm of the Year – Small, Medium Size Entities (SMEs’), at the annual Financial Directors (FDs) Excellence Awards.  This award follows on the back of the Haines Watts group winning ‘Auditor of the Year’ in the SME category for two consecutive years.  

Haines Watts Partners John Edwards - North Devon and Ben de Cruz - Exeter 

John Edwards, Managing Partner Haines Watts North Devon says: “It is great to see Haines Watts win such a prestigious award, particularly as it is voted for by business people and not by an academic panel of experts.  It’s also fantastic that Haines Watts is the first firm ever to have won an award in three consecutive years and I am delighted that it has been crowned Accountancy Firm of the Year for SME’s. On a local level it recognises that we are able to offer our clients award-winning accountancy services as part of this well-respected brand.”

The FDs' Excellence Awards are the most prestigious programme recognising the UK's top finance directors and their service providers that support Britain's finance community using the results of an annual survey, in which FDs and financial decision-makers recorded their opinion.  

The glittering awards ceremony held in Grosvenor Square, London was hosted by Real Business in association with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and supported by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) with Haines Watts beating off stiff competition locally, regionally and across the UK as a whole.

John Edwards adds: “Our core client base is owner-managed businesses, so to get this endorsement from SME businesses means a great deal to us.  We are proud of all our staff at the Bideford office who do an outstanding job for our clients on a daily basis.  Their continued contribution and commitment to giving outstanding service has helped us to win a national award for the third year running which is an amazing achievement.”

www.hwca.com/acccountants-north-devon

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS CELEBRATE ‘ACCOUNTANCY FIRM OF THE YEAR’

The partners of Haines Watts, Exeter celebrate national success as ‘Accountancy Firm of the Year – Small, Medium Size Entities (SMEs’), at the annual Financial Directors (FDs) Excellence Awards.  This award follows on the back of the Haines Watts group winning ‘Auditor of the Year’ in the SME category for two consecutive years beating off stiff competition from other leading local firms.   

Exeter Partners, Patrick Tigwell, Ben de Cruz and David Park toast the Haines Watts group award success

Ben de Cruz, Managing Partner Haines Watts Exeter says: “It’s great to see Haines Watts win such a prestigious award particularly as it is voted for by business people, and not by an academic panel of experts, who recognise that we offer our clients an award-winning accountancy service. It’s also fantastic that Haines Watts is the first firm ever to have won an award in three consecutive years and I’m delighted that the group has been crowned Accountancy Firm of the Year for SME’s.”

The FDs' Excellence Awards are the most prestigious programme recognising the UK's top finance directors and their service providers that support Britain's finance community using the results of an annual survey, in which FDs and financial decision-makers recorded their opinion.  

The glittering awards ceremony held in Grosvenor Square, London was hosted by Real Business in association with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and supported by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). 

Ben de Cruz adds: “Our core client base is owner-managed businesses, so to get this endorsement from SME businesses means a great deal to us.  We are proud of all of our staff in both the Exeter and Crediton offices who do an outstanding job for our clients on a daily basis.  It is because of their contribution and commitment to giving outstanding service that has helped us to win an award for the third year running which is an amazing achievement.”

http://www.hwca.com/accountants-exeter/

Joint exam success for Wealth Management Company

The Exeter office of Brewin Dolphin, one of the UK’s largest independently-owned private client wealth managers, has expanded significantly in the last two years bringing in two new trainee investment managers; Kelly Harkins and James Osborne. Both are looking to develop their careers in Exeter and are keen to boost the development of the Exeter office.

James Osborne and Kelly Harkins with Tim Walker, Head of Office Brewin Dolphin Exeter 

Kelly (24) passed the second of three Masters in Wealth Management papers, Portfolio Construction Theory, while James (25) passed the Private Client Advice paper to move onto the second. Both Kelly and James were awarded a merit, which is a great achievement.

The Masters in Wealth Management is the top qualification offered by the CISI and will lead both Kelly and James to becoming Chartered Wealth Managers in time.

Tim Walker, Head of the Exeter office, said, “I am delighted with both Kelly and James’ success. It is important for the future development of this office that we have young, well qualified staff.  At Brewin Dolphin we have a comprehensive training programme and support all of our staff to attain their full industry qualifications.  We wish Kelly and James all the best for their future exams.”

www.brewin.co.uk/exeter

Chartered Accountants Haines Watts Exeter showcases its new branding of the Crediton Office, formerly known as Ocean Consultancy, following the practice merger which took place earlier this year.

Terry Brydes / Alex Armstrong / Becky Gibson / Sarah Chalmers / David Park ­ Partner 

A national network established over 80 years ago, with more than 50 offices, each Haines Watts office operates independently offering a wide range of services tailored to the local market.  The local office primarily focuses on providing accountancy and taxation services to owner-managed small and medium-sized entities and dealing with private client tax affairs across the South West.

David Park – Partner Haines Watts Exeter says: “The strong Haines Watts brand is very distinctive and we certainly won’t be missed in the square!  Being part of this well-respected national group enables us to continue to give a great local service with access to specialists across the UK when required.  This means that we are competitively priced because our clients do not pay for the specialists unless the need arises but the resource brings peace of mind.”

And it’s a double celebration as the expanding Crediton office welcomes newly appointed professional student, Becky Gibson who is studying for the ACCA qualification.  This increases the small and friendly team to six members who are all local with over 80 years’ of combined experience.

David Park – Partner Haines Watts  Exeter says: “It has been a very exciting six months following the merger which has really motivated the team and we are delighted that Becky has joined us.  We are a progressive and proactive firm; getting to know our clients and their business means we get results.  Our clients generally run successful businesses and we are here to build on this with them developing business and taxation strategy.”

http://www.hwca.com/accountants-exeter/

Brewin Dolphin reaction to the Autumn Statement

Economic overview: Iain Armstrong, director of equity research, comments: ³Chancellor has under promised and over delivered ­ a great trick if one can pull it off. He has had help from higher tax receipts and lower unemployment and better export performance ­ but he did start from an even lower base than understood in 2010. The recession was actually as deep as 7.2% in 2008/09 ­ the deepest in the developed world. And now he has an £11 billion surplus but has certainly not given it away ­ this was a disciplined budget. So he could make his budget surplus 2 years ahead of 2020 as previously forecast. Despite all this the market is not moving as waiting for US tomorrow and QE signals².

Stamp duty/ETFs: Ben Gutteridge, head of fund research, said, ³The abolition of stamp duty on the purchase of shares in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) is as a positive development for the UK¹s budding ETF industry. However, given product providers domiciled in Ireland or Luxembourg are already structured to avoid Stamp Duty, the change is probably insufficient to entice major ETF providers out of their existing locations. This is due to a combination of factors including a well established, and successful, financial infrastructure, prohibitive relocation costs, the double tax deal with US on dividends, and more favourable corporate tax rates.

These issues aside, the passive industry is a rapidly growing arm of global financial services. The UK is doing entirely the right thing by recognising this fact, and improving the competitiveness of its offering. New entrants, providing they are of sufficient scale, may decide the City provides them with a compelling opportunity. In fact, an ETF provider with a UK domicile may use this feature as their Œmarketing edge¹.

Pensions: John Fletcher, financial planning director, comments: ³The increase in state pension age serves to highlight the importance of saving early to provide an income in retirement. The emphasis is now on the individual, not the state, and early planning to ensure sufficient funds for retirement is essential. We¹re please, though, that the Chancellor has not restricted pension savings further².

ISAs: John Fletcher, financial planning director, comments: ³As predicted, no cap has been proposed which is clearly positive news for savers, and the maximum allowance has risen in line with CPI².

Housing: Stephen Williams, director of equity research, comments: ³The Introduction of Capital Gains Tax on foreign-owned residential property will have a negative impact on Berkeley Group, which produces and sells the highest proportion of top-end apartments in London. It could also be negative for Capital & Counties in the Real Estate sector, which has a high proportion of top-end residential development planned at Earls Court and Covent Garden. Any reduction in demand could have an impact on sales and hence earnings. Currently 70% of houses and apartments valued at over £3m are acquired by overseas purchasers.²

Bank levy: Ed Salvesen, deputy head of equity research, comments: ³The Chancellor announced that the Bank Levy would be increased, the third rise in three years. The large banks anticipated this measure and hence the lack of rapid change in the share prices this afternoon. From the 1st January 2014, the Bank Levy will increase to 0.156% from the prior estimate of 0.142% of the size of the banks¹ the total chargeable equity and liabilities which, according to the Government, will help to ensure that the banking sector makes a fair contribution. This will raise £2.7bn in 2014-15 and £2.9bn each year from 2015-16. This will further hurt bank profitability and is a further headwind at a time when management is trying to increase capital headroom and reduce volatility. The cost of the levy to Royal Bank of Scotland, for example, in 2012 was £175 million compared with £300 million in 2011. The focus for investors is currently on capital build and litigation ­ today¹s news is not a surprise given the misdemeanours of the past.²

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily the views held throughout Brewin Dolphin Ltd. No Director, representative or employee of Brewin Dolphin Ltd accepts liability for any direct or consequential loss arising from the use of this document or its contents

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“Taxation – a ‘moral’ issue, or a legal one?”

“Taxation – a ‘moral’ issue, or a legal one?”

 Chris Thorpe - Tax Director Haines Watts Chartered Accountants Exeter

As one of the two certainties in life, taxation is thus important – albeit one that is thoroughly disliked. Nonetheless it is accepted by society generally that taxation is a necessary part of life in order to defend our country and maintain law and order in order to provide an environment within which to live our lives. In the last 100 years an additional call upon our pockets is the provision and maintenance of public services. Income tax is the tax of which we are all aware (it was only supposed to be temporary, introduced in 1799 to pay for the war against France – hence its annual renewal by our Chancellors). In line with this legal requirement to pay income tax, the taxpayers of this country have been entitled to expect some certainty and proportionality on the part of H M Treasury. We have the right to be judged and held accountable to universally-applied laws passed by our elected representatives; those laws tell us how much tax to pay year after year, they tell us what actions are acceptable and which are not and the repercussions of straying over the boundaries of the law. Adam Smith, the founder of the theories of modern economics laid down the fundamental principles behind taxation in his “Canons of Taxation”. As well as “Equality” (payment being proportional to income) and “Convenience of payment” (collection at a time and manner convenient to the taxpayer), there is also “Certainty” (tax liabilities should be clear and certain) and “Economy of Collection” (taxes should not be expensive to collect and should not discourage business). Certainty is a very relevant point; but more significantly it has been coming under attack a great deal of late.

Looking again at those “canons”, how in tact are they in the UK today? Equality? Our tax system is progressive i.e. the more you earn the more you pay – but that’s not equal, 40% is a greater proportion than 20%, whereas 20% of £300,000 is much more in taxes raised than 20% of £30,000. However, out of political necessary, the UK, like most other countries adopt this seemingly fair system. What about Convenience of Payment? Most people pay income tax through PAYE, and the other through Self Assessment Tax Returns – so that one is probably a tick in the box. Economy of Collection – taxes should not be expensive to collect, but H M Revenue & Customs do sometimes seem to make it an overly-arduous task; as for not discouraging business our tax system is wonting there – but that’s for another day. Certainty – until recently it could probably be said that our tax system was certain (if not necessarily clear!); but there is a new trend afoot amongst certain sections of our society which is undermining this fundamental principle.

Our tax statutes (the growing number of them), duly interpreted by the courts, tell us how much tax we should pay. Fellow members of my profession are often called upon to clarify the law, but essentially our tax regime is still governed by laws which are available and equally applicable to all. But to some people the outcome of this is unsatisfactory. Well-advised companies and individuals will follow the letter of the law and do what they are allowed to do to minimise their tax liability. In the House of Lords, Lord Clyde famously stated (in the 1929 case Ayrshire Pullman Motor Services v. Inland Revenue) that:

“No man in the country is under the smallest obligation, moral or other, so to arrange his legal relations to his business or property as to enable the Inland Revenue to put the largest possible shovel into his stores”

i.e. as long as you are obeying the law you can do as you please to lower your tax bill – or carry out “tax avoidance”. That is in stark contrast to “tax evasion” – which is a crime e.g. lying about your income, committing fraud etc.  However, we now have the likes of Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee and our tax conscience, condemning individuals for engaging in tax avoidance. It is apparently immoral. If it is immoral and so offensive to the common man, then it should not have been made law. What is so offensive is to have laws in place legalising an action but then being told that what you are doing is “immoral”, “egregious”, “not adhering to the spirit of the law”, “not paying your fair share” etc. Instead of obeying the law, we are being expected to obey the opinions of certain self-righteous individuals, many of whom are ignorant of our tax system and some of whom may well dabble in some egregious and immoral tax avoidance themselves. If we are to follow their call and pay our fair share and stop avoiding tax – then what is “our fair share”? How do we quantify it? What types of “tax avoidance” are acceptable? Is getting tax-free interest from an ISA acceptable in their view? Or getting tax relief on pension contributions? Do we have to consult Margaret Hodge on each of these matters and others to get the answers? We shouldn’t have to – we have the laws of the land that tell us what we can do and we should not be forced to follow these subjective and uncertain parallel rules laid down by the opinions of a few individuals.

We have a new development now - the General Anti-Abuse Rule (or GAAR). The word “Abuse” used to read “Avoidance” at the consultation stage of this new piece of legislation which came into effect as part of the Finance Act 2013. The GAAR is now an over-riding arbiter as to what is acceptable tax planning under the law. The change from an anti-“Avoidance” rule, to one of anti-“Abuse” is seemingly an acknowledgement of the fact that tax avoidance is legal and that the purpose of this new law was to combat abuses of the system. The change in words gives this law a more-acceptable face – abuse is never a good thing. Abuse is far worse than anything deemed as being Avoidance, but there is perhaps a fine line between the two as something that is abusive is more often than not still within the boundaries of the law.

Whilst it’s a shame it’s come to this, the GAAR would seem a sensible solution to the problem of abuse. The great thing about it is that at the very least it is a law. It is on the statute books. Some uncertainty with still linger for a while before its judgments over individual actions are passed and digested and passed on as guidance, but instead of the hysterical cat calls from a few individuals, we now have a law telling us how to obey the law. 


www.hwca.com/accountants-exeter/

Devon Business Event expects to fly!

Thebestof Exeter launches its first business exhibition at Exeter Race Course which is looking to attract 100 exhibitors and up to 500 visitors in aid of Devon Air Ambulance Trust (DAAT) on September 27^th ‘during National Air Ambulance Week’

John Conway (Peninsula onesource), Michelle Thomas (Exeter Race Course) Heather Binding, Paul Robinson, Caroline Creer, Adrian Parker (DAAT) Linda Bennett, Dave Barr (bestof Exeter) Glen King & Laura Jones (Glen King PR)

The exhibition is a real must for business owners and managers in the Devon area and highly respected business leader Tim Jones FRICS Chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) will give the opening address. In addition there will be seminars presented by keynote speakers and a business advice centre with free 1:1 business clinics.  £ooo’s worth of business prizes will be generously donated by the exhibitors for the charity prize draw in aid of DAAT in line with the key message of Business working with the community. 

Tim Jones FRICS, Chairman - Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership says:  “I am delighted to be invited to be part of this new and exciting business exhibition which is supporting a very worthy Devon charity.  Businesses across the County have a lot to offer and this is a great way of ‘flying the flag’ and raising the profile for local companies.  It also promotes the fact in the South West, we are bucking the trend by not just surviving but thriving in the current economic climate.”

Entry to the event is free by pre-registration and anyone turning up on the day without booking will be charged £10 with all proceeds to the charity.

Linda Bennett Managing Director of thebestof Exeter says: “With our experience and extensive contact database, thebestof Exeter has a strong understanding of the importance of raising the company profile of local businesses.  It was a natural step, therefore, to launch an exciting business EXPO to bring together the wealth of local businesses and services provided in Exeter and across the county as a whole. In line with our ‘business gives back’ ethos we are delighted to have our designated charity, DAAT on board and to date exhibitors have on average generously donated prizes worth  around £500 for the charity prize draw. This falls in line with the key message of Business working with the community

 which ties in with our corporate social responsibility culture and business working with the community message.”

Each year it costs around £4.5m to keep the Devon Air Ambulance service airborne with every penny coming from donations and fundraising by the community and businesses. National Air Ambulance Week is 24^th – 30^th September which has an emphasis on raising awareness of the services in addition to raising funds. 

Caroline Creer Fundraising Director DAAT says: “We are delighted to be selected as thebestof Exeter’s charity for this new business EXPO and it’s all the more poignant as it falls within National Air Ambulance week.  It will not only raise much needed funds so that we can continue to keep the service going, it will also significantly help to raise our profile in the local business community as corporate support and sponsorship is very important to our survival.”

Business Gives Back EXPO takes place on Thursday the 27^th September 9.30am to 16.30 at Exeter Racecourse, with proceeds donated to designated charity Devon Air Ambulance Trust (DAAT).

www.bgbexpo.co.uk

Triple Exam success for local Chartered Accountants

It’s a triple celebration for three team members of Exeter based chartered accountants; Haines Watts who have each passed their professional exams.

Ryan Lewis, Emma Banfield & Andy Chant

Andy Chant (32) has completed his final exams enabling him to become a member of the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT). Emma Banfield (22) joined the firm in October 2010 and is looking forward to developing her career with Haines Watts after passing the first two Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) exams. Finally, Ryan Lewis (24) who has been with the local office for four years has recently completed the professional stage of his ACA qualification, bringing him a step closer to gaining his Chartered Accountancy qualification.

Ben de Cruz, Senior Partner Haines Watts Exeter says: “We believe it is fundamental to invest in our staff training and we are very proud of the hard work they have put in to achieve such great results. By having an experienced and qualified team and being able to offer a range of services means we can ensure our clients are receiving the best service.”

http://www.hwca.com/accountants-exeter/