Monthly Archives: April 2021

Data Protection Registration

Many businesses do not realise that they have a legal obligation to register under the Data Protection Regulations with the Information Commissioner’s Office if they hold or process any personal information electronically.

Basically, this means that if you hold any addresses of customers or suppliers or personnel on your computers.

The ICO has been undertaking a campaign to contact virtually every company listed at Companies House who is not already registered with them to raise awareness and to try and get fees paid.

We have received hundreds of letters here at Martlet House for companies, many of which are dormant, or do not hold data, but if you receive such a letter, you do need to contact the ICO as soon as possible as they are now sending out reminders.

Also, if you do not hold personal information on computers, if you use CCTV for crime prevention reasons, that is also enough to require a data protection registration.

If you are found to be in breach of these regulations, the fines can be HUGE!

If you require any further information about the requirements, please do not hesitate to contact us.

What is the outlook for SMEs? Practical Guidance for SMEs looking to Futureproof their business

12 months on and we are still feeling the effects of the pandemic and will for some time.

In March, immediately after the Chancellors latest budget, we asked SMEs across the UK to share their outlook for the next 12 months. The findings make for interesting reading – including:

• 46% of businesses with less than £250k turnover are expecting reduced income over the next 12 months.
• 67% of businesses with more than £5M turnover are projecting increased income.
• Looking after existing clients, finding new clients and growth are the 3 biggest priorities for SMEs.

These findings, somewhat unsurprisingly, suggests that larger businesses are more insulated from the negative effects of the pandemic. Smaller firms, with less resources and less of a ‘safety net’, are feeling the effects more severely.

It is encouraging to see that 64% of businesses have reviewed their cashflow – a vital step to take at all times but even more so in these turbulent times.

A concern is the low number of businesses that are undertaking customer surveys. Keeping close to your customers has never been more important.

You can see a full copy of the tracker polls results together with our observations take in our SME Outlook Tracker Report by clicking on the link below.

We have also produced a handy one-sided leaflet to highlight some of the key steps that SMEs can take to futureproof their business. This is available to download below as well.

The landscape is ever changing. As ever, we are here to support you. If you would like to have a chat about the future and the steps you can take to futureproof your business as well as the practical steps you can take to support your business, please do get in touch.

Congratulations

Congratulations to our Jarrad Gilbertson for passing his Final ACCA Paper, Advanced Audit, with 63%. Jarrad only has two more to pass before becoming fully qualified!

Recovery Loan Scheme now launched

A new government-backed loan scheme launched last week (6 April) to provide additional finance to those businesses that need it. Please click on the link for more information.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/recovery-loan-scheme-launches-today