Latest News

National Insurance Contributions U-turn

Commentators were not expecting much in the way of big announcements in the Budget on 8 March. This was partly due to the preoccupation with Brexit, and partly due to this being the last Spring Budget and the expectation that changes to be introduced in April 2018 will be announced in the Autumn Budget.

Brexit – what are the corporate tax implications for companies?

On 29 March 2017 the UK Government triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to formally notify its intention to leave the European Union (“EU”) within a two year period.

Although it is difficult at this stage to provide specific details of how the UK taxation system will be impacted by Brexit, the likelihood is that there will not be any immediate change to direct and indirect taxes. The actual tax impact of Brexit will be better understood once the terms of any Brexit agreement have been concluded with the EU.

Helping the people of West Cumbria achieve their financial dreams with quality face to face advice

Armstrong Watson is delighted to announce that Stuart Smith has joined the team in West Cumbria as a Financial Planning Consultant. Stuart has spent most of his working life in West Cumbria with over 15 years’ experience in financial services. Stuart prides himself on developing trusted relationships with clients and identifying their financial goals and more importantly, how they can achieve them with the right foundations in place.

Stuart comments:

How much?!

For anyone unfamiliar with British understatement, “How much?!” is a rhetorical question used to indicate that the buyer hasn’t totally agreed with the pricing of an item for sale.

The problem is that pricing and valuation are tricky things to get right, especially with large assets.  An old saying goes that the “price” is the amount someone is prepared to pay for an asset.

Tax team shortlisted for two awards in National Taxation Awards 2017

We are delighted to announce that our tax team has been shortlisted for two awards including ‘Best Tax Practice in a Regional Firm’ and ‘Best Tax Investigations Team’ at the National Taxation Awards 2017.

These national awards recognise the best in the taxation industry, celebrating excellence and promoting the highest standards possible.

After winning the award for ‘Best Tax Practice in a Regional Firm’ in 2015 and being a finalist in the ‘Best Tax Investigations Team’ last year, we are hoping to scoop two accolades this year.

An insight into Family Businesses

The Armstrong Watson Family Business Insight 2017 provides an in depth analysis of current trends from the results of the largest survey of its kind in the UK.  The survey collates opinions from over 400 family business owners across the country offering an awareness of the challenges they face on a day-to-day basis.

Free finance sessions for school leaders

Following on from the autumn term’s popular Considerations for Conversion series in respect of finding the right structure for your school in the future, Armstrong Watson in association with Modern Governor, Berg and C:Becs are now hosting a second series of topical school webinars between March and July which deal with crucial issues currently facing our schools.  

Introducing our new forensic team

October 2016 saw the arrival of our new forensic team which has vast experience of assisting parties with, and adding value to, a wide range of disputes, investigations and litigation-related matters. 

The team is headed by partner Matthew Geale, who specialises in a wide range of forensic matters, including commercial litigation, shareholder disputes, personal injury and intellectual property disputes, such as infringement of trademarks. 

What can Stephen Hawking tell us about business planning?

The famous theoretical physicist and cosmologist might seem an unlikely inspiration for an article about business planning. However, I recently read a quote from Stephen Hawking that reminded me of a situation facing most business owners.

The quote is:

“I have noticed that even those who assert that everything is predestined, and that we can change nothing about it, still look both ways before they cross the street”

Automatic Enrolment are you compliant?

There are many TV and radio advertisements advising employers of their pension obligations to employees. Regulations came into force from July 2012 with the first pension, automatic enrolment obligations commencing for the largest employers, from October 2012. The smallest and new businesses, will be staging in the coming months with the larger ones having already carried out re-enrolment (every three years). But, and this is the big question, have employers being carrying out their obligations correctly? The Pensions Regulator has announced they will be commencing “spot checks”.