Latest News

Payroll Team Celebrate UK First with PAS & PQP Double Accreditation

The Armstrong Watson Payroll and Employee Services team achieve success once again.

The company are the first accountancy payroll services firm in the UK to be accredited with both the Payroll Assurance Scheme (PAS) kite mark and the Payroll Quality Partnership (PQP) kite mark.

Race for Lifers get Pretty Muddy fundraising for Cancer Research UK

Congratulations to the teams across our offices for helping to raise an amazing amount of money for our Charity of the Month* for June, Cancer Research UK.

Carlisle College Celebrates Outstanding Achievement

Carlisle College has held their annual awards event, with a total of twenty eight awards presented throughout the evening, recognising the continuous effort and outstanding achievements of learners and the relationship that the College has had with employers over the last academic year.

Impact of National Insurance changes on the self-employed and their state pension

In previous editions of Inspired we have looked at retirement plans and whether individuals can actually afford to live on State Pension alone. An individual with the full entitlement to State Pension would currently receive £159.55 a week, which gives an annual income of just under £8,300. Although this may not provide sufficient income alone, it is still income that we should do our best to guarantee.

Is uncertainty the only certainty in business?

If Donald Trump’s improbable victory, the EU referendum and the recent general election has taught us anything (other than the ineffectiveness of prediction polls) it’s that things are ever changing. On 9 June, many woke to the feeling of despair at the news of a hung parliament. This, combined with the start of the formal Brexit negotiations, will create a challenging and uncertain landscape for many businesses.

Rising property prices?

Recent statistics issued by the Land Registry confirm that the average price of a property in the UK is up 7.7% over a 12 month period to September 2016 - the average being £217,888.

Regionally this varies, with the averages across Armstrong Watson’s offices as follows:

• North East £125,213

• North West £150,845

• Yorkshire and the Humber £151,399

• Scotland £143,006

Corporate Finance Team Celebrate a Duo of Deals

Our Corporate Finance team are celebrating a duo of deals.

Are we a bit weird?

During my work as an adviser to owner managed businesses, I’ve noticed how often business owners want to benchmark themselves against other organisations. It’s not necessarily a detailed enquiry, but I’ve come to expect some variation of the following question:

“Are we the only ones who have this issue?” or more bluntly, “Are we a bit weird?”

Obviously confidentiality precludes me from giving full answers, but I always comment that many of the issues our clients face are generic to being in business. In this context, no one is ever as weird as they might fear.

Could “Bank of Mum and Dad” result in some unexpected tax implications?

It is often reported that younger generations are increasingly reliant on the “bank of mum and dad”. Parents and grandparents often wish to assist their family where they can. A survey by Key Retirement shows that 58% of parents and grandparents want to be able to help their children and grandchildren onto the property ladder, 18% wish to help pay off debts and student loans and 13% intend to assist with funding a wedding.