Business Update March 2007
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Key links
Time for a change?
"If a small firm has been trading for some time and has fallen into a rut, a relaunch can provide the best opportunity to turn things around," says Kathryn Hughes, adviser for Business Link ...Up close and personal
"If you don't stay close to your customers, you risk losing them to your competitors," warns Jo Bowen-Jones, enterprise development director of Greater Merseyside Business Link. ...Q&A: How can Acas help my business?
Acas assistant director of individual conciliation, Ron Woods, tells Afsheen Latif how small businesses can benefit from his organisation's services.What kind of problems does Acas deal with? RW: ...End game
"Many owner-managers put a lot of hard work into building up their business only to throw away the possible rewards by failing to plan their exit," says Business Link Berkshire adviser Keith ...Premium concern
Under Injury Cost Recovery (ICR) legislation introduced in January 2007, the NHS can claim back treatment costs of up to £37,000 from a business, via its insurance, if an accident is the result ...Ten ways to... Improve your cashflow
Successful ventures are built upon healthy cashflow. This is where money entering the business is greater than money paid out. If you want to improve your cashflow, here are some simple measures to ...New checklist for SMEs handling requests for personal information under the Data Protection Act 1998
checklist issued by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
The checklist guides businesses through the procedure they must follow if an individual asks in writing (known as a 'subject ...Tax increase on private use of commercial vans
Businesses need to be aware of new rules in force from 6 April 2007 if they are to avoid a massive increase in the tax they pay as a benefit-in-kind on private use of commercial vans.
Under ...HMRC guidance on employer contributions to occupational pension schemes
HM Revenue &Customs (HMRC) has published new and reassuring guidance for employers on the test for determining whether employer contributions to occupational pension schemes are tax ...Have your say: DTI plans to protect vulnerable agency workers
Businesses using agency workers - as short-term cover, to meet upturn in demand, or to cover staff absence - need to be aware of plans to protect vulnerable workers in this ...Case law: successor used as comparator in equal pay claim
Businesses drawing up a remuneration package for a replacement employee should take note of a recent tribunal decision in an equal pay claim.
In this case, a female employee was replaced by a ...Case law: sex discrimination claim where employee was made redundant on return from maternity leave is unsuccessful
A recent Court of Appeal ruling has clarified the approach taken by the courts when considering a discrimination claim.
In this case, an employee was made redundant on her return from maternity ...Case law: employee unfairly dismissed for insulting emails
Businesses need to have clear procedures for dealing with complaints about email insults, in the light of a recent tribunal decision.
An employment tribunal has recently held that an employee who ...Case law: employer liable for stress claim even where it offered counselling service
Two recent cases show that employers must be fully aware of the duty of care that they owe to their employees if they are to defend stress claims successfully.
In one case, heard by the Court of ...Case law: 'without prejudice' correspondence in settlement negotiations
Businesses involved in settlement negotiations should not assume that all correspondence will be protected from disclosure, following a recent High Court ruling.
The case involved negotiations ...My employee has lied on their CV...
One thing you can guarantee when recruiting is that some applicants will try to mislead you about their skills, experience, references or qualifications. In fact, according to Risk Advisory Group ...How I stay close to my customers
THE SOLUTION: "About 80 per cent of my business comes from existing customers. It's much easier than chasing work from new customers. Keeping close to my clients enables me to understand what ...