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Small business bank recommendations

B
Afternoon everyone

I've been trading as a sole trader for 11 years and have been with Barclays Bank for 7 years -

Does anyone have any good supportive bank that they deal with ? I do everything electronically, do not need to pay in cash - Barclays are not keen to give me even a 1p overdraft and would rather bounce items and charge me £12 for the pleasure - I understand that I shouldnt be overdrawn but occasionally something goes in for payment and Im not around to pop funds in

Anyone deal with a proactive bank ?
Becky
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Company requires my UTR for contract work?

G
I started a LTD Gas Engineer/Plumbing company last year and have done work for various company's as well as private work since.
I am the sole Director/Employee.
I am trying to get some contract work from another company but they have requested my UTR number before will offer me work. This is first time I have been asked for this so I am a bit confused why other companies have not needed it.
I have given my Company UTR but they say that not working.
I am still getting head round the business side of things and I am looking at sourcing an accountant going forward.
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Self Assessment Return & Shares Information (Yes, last minute ask:( )

N
Hi There

I was wondering if anyone could help- it would be greatly appreciated by someone who has left everything to the last minute.

My husband was made redundant from the company he worked for in 2020. In his time in the business, he was gifted shares. He didnt pay for them, they were kept for him. So when he was made redundant, he had to sell the shares by a certain date or he would lose them- which he did in Aug 21. They were held by a US financial company (this was all done through his old job), who then sold them and sent him the money- they were sold at $53597.96 and he received £38,663.76

He now needs to put them in a tax return and we dont know how to put that in- and he doesnt have an accountant. Is it capital gains? And what information do we need to put in? I know I put the details in incorrectly when it suggested that he owed £4000- there is no way he could be taxed that little.

Anyone any advice (other than get an accountant ::)
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Best type of business for longest list of allowable expenses?

S
Hey folks! This is just a musing I have been having and happy to be told 'that's not how these things work'... But I have a sole proprietorship in the entertainment industry and have a few unique allowable expenses attributed to that. I was wondering if one wanted to absolutely max out on their allowable expenses as a self employed worker, what might be the best type of business or industry to form say a sole proprietorship to reduce your tax bill with the most amount of expenses? (looking at all the creative accountants out there!)

Thanks!
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IPO Trademark Advice

U
Hi All,

First post here so be gentle :)

I am looking for advice on where I may stand in a certain situation, I am currently not very happy in my place of work, the way it's run just doesn't suit me, I have always wanted to work for myself and I have a very good opportunity to do this.

I have started preparing to leave and me being me once I put things up I find it hard to put them down I wanted to secure a decent brand name for my new venture, i registered this new name with the IPO, I haven't done anything with it yet and don't intend to until I leave but I have a copyright and inventions clause in my work contract, of course the TM was registered whilst working for this company so when I do come to leave and start working on the brand would they be able to swipe it off me?

Me being me thought that if I do it in my own time they can't touch it but even out of my contracted hours it seems from what i've read they would have a claim to it.. my fear is that I would establish it and then they find out it was registered whilst I was working for them and claim it back, stupidly I should have done it in my partners name but hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it.

Should I cut my losses and withdraw it and register it again once I leave?

Does anyone have any advice on where I stand, please?

Thank you.
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New start up wedding planning wellbeing company, needing helpful ideas to get started.

Wedding R&R
Hi,

I’ve launched a new start-up company, something a little different. Wedding Remedy and Renewal (Wedding R&R) Linktr.ee/weddingremedyandrenewal

is a wedding planning wellbeing service. The aim: to meet the needs of those individuals who are finding wedding planning overwhelming. As a qualified Occupational Therapist, I am offering a unique mixed approach of Occupational therapy, coaching and a talking space to help shed some of the burden that may have been created through the wedding planning journey. I’m aware this is an exceptionally niche area, whilst highlighting a gap in the market.

I’m wondering how I can best promote this service, I have social media and a website, what should I be doing in terms of promoting this, any ideas and suggestions appreciated, please be kind! Thank you.
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Adding a retail showroom to an existing business

BrinkArt
I'm currently in year 2 of a studio business producing art (sculpture and print editions plus originals). I also run design contracts as a portion of this business income. I'm currently thinking of moving premises from a services workshop to a retail unit and running the workshop from a high street space with a small showroom at the front. Showroom would be staffed (limited opening hours). The long term goal is to add a space to the business for clients / art collectors to visit, plus ad hoc visitors. The showroom space would be a new trading arm. Has anyone tried this? Looking for pitfalls, considerations.
Thanks
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When should I open a ltd trading company to reduce taxes paid to HMRC (income tax, NI and student loan)

J
Hi,

I have been running my business as a sole trader for 5 years, I now make £24,000 from employment and £30,000 profit from sole trading (£54,000 to pay taxes from).

I'd like to know at what point would it be my advantage to run my sole trading through a ltd company to reduce my taxes paid on income tax, NI and/or student loan payments.

Kind regards,

Joel
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Teams for rent

C
Hi,

Again, I am validating an idea for a friend of mine (real one, not imaginary).
He has a company with 20+ developers. Good ones, experience and skilled. The company has good portfolio.
They are developing their own product but wish to get into a new business: renting agile teams. Meaning teams between 5 and 8: devs and tester(s). One of devs is also TL.
The company has a scrum master and a tech lead. So, all teams work with them. They are not part of the teams being rented. Instead they are part of service fee.

Bottom line, the customer rents a team or more according to his needs. There is a price per team member, per level, per month. Pays for the team something like: the month upfront and last month warranty.

They would like to pitch this starting january.

Ok. This is already too long:).

What do you think? Will something like this work? Would you pay for this if you would need it?

Thank you!
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New to E-commerce

R
Hey guys, Im currently thinking about starting a new E-Commerce store. Could people please tell me for their particular niches what the challenges they currently face are. And if so are you willing to pay to resolve it? I am probably looking to start something in the cooking and baking supplies niche but hearing other peoples challenges should be helpful.
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Transferring inventory to Ltd company

I
Hi all ,I’m hoping for a bit of advice about transferring inventory. I switched from sole trader to Ltd company last year(big mistake which I’m now learning) and had approx £1500 in inventory left in to transfer to my LTd company. Does this go down as capital gains on my sole trader tax return? Or do I sell it to my Ltd company and claim as income? I’m so confused by it all and can’t find any info about it online. Thanks so much in advance for any advice.
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Holiday Allowance

H
Hello,

I'm hoping you can help, I currently work 3 days a week (Mon-Fri) and have been told I am entitled to 12 days holiday, Calculation is the following 15 days (entitlement) - 3 days (bank holiday pro rata)

Full time staff have 25 days holiday and 8 days bank holiday, when looking on the government website it states that my allowance is actually 16.8 days, I have bought this up with HR but they have said this is incorrect.

In 2022 I actually had 15 days leave and no deduction for bank holidays so I am a little confused!

Any advice? :)
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Employee Resigned / Payment in Lieu

J
An employee resigned today and has a 3 months notice period (*employed <1 year).

Can we give them the option to:

1) leave immediately without pay and they will not work any of their notice or;

2) we pay them one month salary of the 3 month notice period in exchange for them foregoing the further 2 months notice period pay?

Essentially we'd like them to leave and feel option 2 would probably suit both parties. On the other hand if not, then we would request them to work their notice period with full pay BUT expect them to work in full (even if we don't actually give them a full workload).

Your advice appreciated.
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Recommend a mailing list service?

K
I need to create a mailing list from a website. I've been looking through some available options, but I was curious about what people would recommend.

I had my eyes on Send In Blue because they charge by emails sent rather than the number of people on your mailing list.

My big problem is I have a couple of domains associated with different projects, and I would like to have a mailing list for each domain. Is that possible with one account, or would I need to pay for two accounts to have the option of two mailing lists?
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Dissolved via compulsory strike-off action but still trading?

J
Hi there,

I've been looking to employ some tradespeople to carry out work and have come across a company that seems to be able to do this, but after some DD I noticed on companies house the filing history for said limited company says it was dissolved via compulsory strike-off action back in 2020. Looking further back, it looks like compulsory strike-off action has been threatened multiple times since 2012 but prior to 2020, was either suspended or discontinued for reasons that aren't clear.

The company still has what appears to be a legitimate and active website, with company address, phone numbers and detailed info about their service offering. I've even spoken with the (former?) director of the company listed on companies house to discuss potential work.

Is it possible that he could be continuing as a sole trader? Would there be a register somewhere with more information about him and this new set up? I don't want to hand over money with no recourse if no work or bad work is carried out. At the same time for the type of work I need doing there seem to be limited options and so I'm keen to go ahead with this company. Would it be best to just ask directly why companies house says the company has been dissolved, and how he is still trading? Or would that be too impolite?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
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