Member News

As employers gear up for the Christmas party season for the first time in two years, they need to take care to avoid a tax hangover. After last year when festive celebrations were largely impossible due to Covid, many will be looking forward to the return of the office Christmas party this year.  Whilst for some it is the highlight of the working year, for others it can cause big headaches – and not just through over-indulgence in the mulled wine. Generous employers dispensing festive fun need to be aware of the VAT implications of their seasonal generosity if they want to avoid a New Year’s hangover courtesy of the VAT-man. When an employer rewards employees for their hard work through gestures such as a Christmas party, HMRC considers this to be for legitimate business purposes, and so the VAT incurred on the costs of providing that entertainment is usually recoverable (subject to any partial exemption restrictions).  This differs from business entertainment, such as business meetings with customers, where VAT recovery is generally blocked. There are two exceptions to this: the first is if the party is solely for directors, partners or sole proprietors of the business (although where directors and partners of the business attend events together with their employees, HMRC accept that VAT incurred on costs is recoverable in line with the normal rules). The second exception is if employees are acting as hosts to non-employees.  Some employers allow guests of employees and other non-employees to attend Christmas parties.  This is a generous gesture on the part of the employer, but HMRC is rather more Scrooge-like: it would expect the business to apportion the VAT incurred on costs based on headcount, with the portion relating to entertaining non-employees being blocked from recovery under business entertainment rules. Under current VAT rules, the input tax on the total of gifts made to the same person in any 12 month period can be reclaimed, provided all gifts to that person amount to less than £50 net cost during the period. So an employer mulling whether to give their staff a £65 basket of chocolate goodies, an £85 bottle of Champagne, or a £7.99 cheese board from the local supermarket, would choose the cheese option if they wanted to avoid a VAT charge – although whether their employees might then view their boss as Scrooge is another matter! If employers are looking to spend a little more and give gifts exceeding the £50 limit per person, they must either pay output tax on the gift given away (after claiming the input tax initially under the usual VAT rules).  Alternatively, you can choose not to claim the input tax in the first place, which will mean you have no obligation to pay any output tax. It’s not just the employer who needs to think about the tax implications of those Christmas gifts.  Whilst gifts with a value of less than £50 are regarded as a ‘trivial benefit’ by HMRC, more expensive presents may mean there is a tax benefit to be accounted for – and an increased tax bill may just take the shine off that Christmas sparkle…

Can you help support Globally Onward’s mission to break the employment barriers for skilled immigrants and refugees and integrate them into the professional workforce? Globally Onward is a newly formed Community Interest Company set up to provide practical support through our mentoring and coaching programme to help professionally qualified immigrants and refugees to overcome the hurdles they can often face in finding and securing career opportunities in the UK that match their skills and qualifications. You can make your vital donation here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/employment-support-for-immigrants-and-refu…

Saturday 28th May 2022 will mark the date of ‘Superwoman Fest™ Norwich’ at the Norfolk showground- a fun-filled and all-inclusive celebration of the achievements of women and girls and platform for future opportunities.

The event will be hosted by local training provider and empowerment coach HER Business Revolution, who encourages female students from Norfolk colleges, sixth-forms and universities to come along to explore their future options in a friendly and inspiring environment.

The festival will feature a speakers tent where talks will be given by guests like actress Holly Matthews, co-founder of the Happy Me project and Louise McCullough, Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon.  There will be a marketplace run by local businesses, interactive workshops run by businesses that are furthering gender equality and the chance to chat to experts in different fields about potential professional and creative opportunities.

Those running the festival hope to attract a wide range of women from all walks of life- from entrepreneurs, professionals and women seeking new careers, to those seeking emotional or physical support in work or life. Students and young women are welcome too, and there will be opportunities to learn and get inspired about future careers.

Lily Church, an employee at the company said: “ At HER Business Revolution, we feel that a positive celebration of everything that women have accomplished and will achieve, will light the way for a whole new generation of girls and women looking to find their calling.”

The event team are currently searching for stand holders and sponsors to support the festival. For more information, contact events@herbusinessrevolution.biz for a digital sponsorship brochure

Click here to find out more!

Sharpe Pritchard, Bevan Brittan and Howes Percival appointed by Crown Commercial Service An innovative consortium of three law firms has been appointed to a prestigious central government panel to provide legal advice to government departments and their agencies. Sharpe Pritchard, Bevan Brittan and Howes Percival linked up to submit a joint proposal in bidding for a place on the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Legal Services Panel, a four-year framework with a total potential value of more than £300m. The consortium has secured one of 12 slots on Lot 1 – General Legal Advice and Services, which has seen the previous two-tier structure replaced by a single tier of firms who will all now have the opportunity to work with central government over the next four years. Crown Commercial Service supports the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services. In 2020/21, CCS helped the public sector to achieve commercial benefits equal to £2.04bn – supporting world-class public services that offer best value for taxpayers. The collaborative approach by the three firms, all of whom have significant track records in advising central and local government, will allow framework users to access the full depth and breadth of the trio’s legal teams. Justin Mendelle, Senior Partner at Sharpe Pritchard, said:

“We are delighted to continue delivering outstanding client services to our central government client base. Our focus remains squarely on the public sector and the consortium gives central government direct access to the combined strength and depth of our three firms.  

“We have complementary strengths, each bringing our distinctive expertise to the table and giving central government bodies access to teams and individual lawyers who recognised as leaders in their fields.

  “We are looking forward to developing further our relationships with our existing clients and building new relationships with others in central government.

  “This appointment cements our status as a go-to firm for clients in the public sector.”

  David Hutton, Partner and Head of Central and Local Government at Bevan Brittan, said:

“This is exciting news and a great chance to further our growth plans, opening up new opportunities and establishing us further as leading legal advisers in this field.

  “It will build on our previous track record of working with central government departments and agencies and on infrastructure projects across the UK. It is yet another step forward for us in one of our established markets, alongside the positive steps we are taking in our emerging markets elsewhere.

  “The consortium approach is one which will allow government departments to access the knowledge and experience of all three firms who are focused and invested in working with the central and local government sector. It is fantastic for all three firms and shows the benefit in our innovative, collaborative approach.”

  Howes Percival chairperson, Geraint Davies, said:

“We are delighted to be appointed once again to this Central Government panel. The successful bid, led at Howes Percival by partner Morris Peacock, is a fantastic accolade which is testament to the quality and depth of the legal services we provide.

  “We continue to strengthen our offering in the expanding range of markets in which we operate and our re-appointment to this panel clearly demonstrates the credibility and expertise of our people.

  “We have a long track record of providing specialist advice to Government departments and agencies, including HMRC and the Insolvency Service on notable instructions such as the investigation into the failure of BHS. We have also advised many local councils and educational institutions including the University of Cambridge and on a wide range of projects, such as the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power station. We are looking forward to continuing to provide Central Government with formidable legal expertise alongside our London based consortium partners.”

  The Crown Commercial Service was established in 2014 by the Cabinet Office to manage central government contracts with private sector suppliers centrally. Areas of law covered by the contract include competition, contracts, outsourcing, public procurement, real estate and intellectual property, among a number of other areas. To find out more about the full range of services offered by Howes Percival click here.

Howes Percival has appointed family law expert, Sally Harris as a director. She joins the leading law firm from Steeles Law where she was a partner and head of the family law team. Sally is focused predominantly on financial remedy cases, having specialised in family law for nearly 30 years, she has detailed and wide-ranging experience of all issues arising from relationship breakdown. She is a compassionate family practitioner with long experience in private law Children Act proceedings and regularly advises on post and prenup agreements. She is a member of Resolution and a trained collaborative lawyer. Client feedback to the Legal 500 (the authoritative guide to the UK’s leading law firms) describes Sally as ‘well respected locally as a strong, pragmatic, experienced and client focused lawyer.’ and a ‘calm and collected but also a formidable opponent’. Commenting on the appointment, Justine Flack, a partner and head of the family law department at Howes Percival said,

“We pride ourselves on recruiting experienced, hands-on professionals and giving clients direct access to those senior experts. So, I’m delighted to welcome Sally to the firm. She is highly regarded, and in addition to bringing extensive experience, she has strong technical skills and a great reputation for her work.

“We continue to experience increased demand for family law services. Many people have re-evaluated their relationships during the pandemic and we are now seeing this referred to as a direct cause of the breakdown. More couples are choosing to live together, so advice about co-habitation agreements is also on the increase. This involves us being able to take a holistic approach by working with our colleagues in private client and property. Likewise, more people are seeing the benefit of pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements. While the nature of the work constantly changes, assisting high-net worth individuals in divorce proceedings with complex assets is still the core of our work.”

Justine Flack continued,

“No fault divorce is scheduled to be introduced in April 2022 enabling couples to part ways with mutual consent. Neither spouse will have to take the blame, which is hoped to make the process easier for all involved. We think there could well be a rush of instructions in the New Year, ahead of the new regime. No fault divorce is aimed at making divorce less confrontational, and as a trained collaborative lawyer, Sally will offer this very effective form of alternative dispute resolution.

“Alternative dispute resolution provides an opportunity for people to work through the things they need to sort out following a separation to enable them and their family to move on with life in a positive way. The pandemic exacerbated court delays and backlogs, so people should also consider alternative dispute resolution to resolve their problems rather than going to court.

“To meet the increasing demand for our family law services, we will also be appointing two new senior associates to the team in the new year.”  

Howes Percival’s Family Law team provides a fully integrated and comprehensive service for high-net worth individuals and family businesses. The team works closely with other legal experts within the firm to advise on all aspects of relationships and family matters, including those relating to children, property, family and farming businesses, estates, wills, probate, trusts and tax. All Howes Percival family lawyers are members of Resolution, a national organisation of family lawyers and other professionals committed to the constructive resolution of family disputes. Whilst the team will strive to get the best result for clients by agreement, they are also experienced litigators and will represent clients’ interests in Court robustly when necessary. For more details on Howes Percival’s Family Law team, click here.

Peerless Plastics & Coatings is celebrating having won a prestigious Plastics Industry Award for their MicroGuard™ Anti-Microbial range of protective, hard coatings, winning the Materials Innovation Award 2021. Winners of the Plastics Industry Awards 2021 awards were announced Thursday night (2nd December) by comedian Simon Evans at a black-tie gala evening, live streamed from the Waldorf Hilton in London. In announcing the Materials Innovation Award, Judges praised the MicroGuard™ Anti-Microbial project “as an exceptional piece of development for a demanding application”. With 8 finalists it was one of the largest and most hotly contested categories. “We are very pleased to have won this national award and gain industry recognition. This award belongs to everyone at Peerless Plastics & Coatings and I am very proud of our team who have worked extremely hard over the last couple of years, servicing our customers across many areas of industry…” said Peter Llewellyn-Stamp, Managing Director. “…Within this MicroGuard™ Anti-Microbial range we now have an Optically Clear hard coating, together with a Matt hard coating and a specialist Anti-Fog/Anti-Microbial coating. Having formulated this range of coatings and proven their performance against a variety of bacteria and viruses we have developed new applications and worked with customers in the UK and Europe on a wide range of projects where superior surface performance is required. Some of the Anti-microbial products launched over the last 18 months include Anti-Fog PPE & Police public order helmet visors, Anti-Fog respirator mouth covers, Covid Screens, desk/table covers and wall cladding. In addition to Anti-Microbial properties, our coatings make plastics more sustainable by improving surface hardness and chemical resistance, allowing plastic products to stand up against day to day wear & tear and cleaning regimes, extending their useful life…” Launched in 2001, and held annually in London, the Plastics Industry Awards are dedicated to rewarding innovation and exceptional performance in an increasingly competitive market. Sixteen categories cover materials usage, product design, manufacturing, training and environmental performance, and entries are judged by a panel of industry experts.   For more information about Peerless Plastics & Coatings range of Anti-Microbial, protective hard coatings, click here: https://www.peerless-coatings.co.uk/coatings-for-plastic/microguard-anti…   For more information on the Plastics Industry Awards, click here: https://www.plasticsawards.com/PIA2021/en/page/home  

On 11th December, Ethan Dimaano will be achieving a lifelong dream by taking a skydive from Beccles Airfield in aid of Help For Heroes.This event is sponsored by Norfolk based Internet Service and Telecoms Provider FreeClix, who took Ethan on as a trainee junior technician under the Kickstart scheme earlier this year. The charity jump will take place at Beccles Airfield sometime between 10:30am and 12:30pm. All of the money raised from the jump will go straight to Armed Forces charity Help For Heroes. The money will be used to provide invaluable support for wounded veterans to enable them to overcome the challenges that life after service brings. This charity is extremely close to Ethan’s heart as his long-term career goal is to work as an engineer in the RAF. “Working at FreeClix under the Kickstart Scheme has given me a fantastic opportunity to gain experience towards my main goal of working as an engineer for the RAF. I’ve developed skills and gained technical knowledge that will be vital for me when I reach the RAF. I’m delighted to now be able to do this sponsored skydive for Help For Heroes, with the support of all of the FreeClix team.” Ethan has already reached dizzying heights after managing to fundraise almost £300 for the charity in the lead up to his dive. With one week still to go, the hope is that this total will continue to climb right up until Saturday 11th and beyond. “I’m delighted that we’ve managed to raise so much money for Help For Heroes already before I’ve even made it to the drop zone. The work they do is integral to helping wounded veterans and their families recover and I’d like to raise as much as we possibly can for them.” FreeClix director, Peter Freeman, wants to encourage people to show their support in any way they can for Ethan. “We are extremely proud of Ethan for taking on this challenge. We’re delighted to be part of Ethan’s journey to achieve his goal of working for the RAF, helping him develop his technical skills and now sponsoring his skydive too. He’s raising money for an excellent cause so if you can donate anything at all we’d really appreciate the support!” If you want to go watch Ethan dive for Help for Heroes make your way to Beccles Airfield on Saturday 11th December. The jump is due to take place after 10:30 am. If you’d like to go one step further and donate to Ethan’s fundraiser, you can do so visiting this webpage.

The Alan Boswell Group Charitable Trust continues to deliver on its commitment to make a difference to charitable causes in the areas that we operate in. We wanted to share what our donations mean to some of the charities who have been given funds. The current Charitable Trust sub-committee have assessed 111 applications made to the Trust, sent feedback to dozens of charities and have been the driving force behind the £460,000 of grants awarded in the last 12 months. Here are some of the amazing impacts that our grants have been making: East Norfolk Riding for the Disabled The Trust donated £4,000 to the charity and they have put the money to excellent use. They have been able to purchase all of the following:

• Specialised saddle which features a deep seat to support riders.
• A set of ‘Bunny ears’ handles for riders who have difficulty with traditional reins.
• Instructors booked onto First Aid and Safeguarding training
• Training sessions for volunteers – these are much needed as no sessions have been able to run since the first lockdown and the charity are looking forward to welcoming back their volunteers and riders.
• COVID safety products such as hand sanitiser pumps and cleaning products.

The remainders of the donation will be used to support activities and events taking place for service users in the future. North Norfolk MacMillan Centre MacMillan Cancer Support invested £2.2 million in the North Norfolk MacMillan Centre to help thousands of people access cancer treatment and support closer to their homes. They relied on grants such as the £10,000 donated by ABG to cover the costs of the build and despite an unprecedented drop in income of up to 50% during the pandemic, the building is now complete & the first patient has received treatment! The new centre includes:

• Six chemotherapy treatment chairs with capacity to treat up to 36 patients a day.
• Three new clinic rooms and two new minor procedure rooms, creating an additional 10,000 outpatients’ appointments annually and space for new cancer diagnostics including prostate biopsy.
• A Macmillan cancer information and support centre.

Eating Matters Eating Matters are a Norfolk based charity which offers counselling for people age 11+ with mild to moderate eating disorders in the community. They applied for a grant of £2,500 back in March 2020 to support their services throughout the pandemic, meaning delivery via online/telephone counselling. At the time of writing, they supported 264 clients, 134 of which were under the age of 25. ‘’The funding received from The Alan Boswell Group Charitable Trust has supported counsellor fees for 100 counselling sessions. The average number of sessions a client requires to aid recovery is 18. These sessions take place on a weekly basis for an hour over a period of between 4 – 6 months. Our counsellors and support staff will liaise with GP’s and NHS tier 3 eating disorder services for medical monitoring where necessary to ensure client safety. We currently have 18 part time counsellors working at Eating Matters, one of which is a third-year student who is completing her placement hours with us.’’ The organisation has since resumed face to face counselling sessions, as well as continuing the online/telephone sessions for service users with more mild symptoms, or live in remote parts of Norfolk. Arthur Rank Hospice The hospice ran the ‘Help Us Be There’ appeal back in 2020 where they aimed to raise £100,000 to fund the recruitment of two full time healthcare assistants. The new colleagues were needed to meet the demands of people wishing to receive end of life care in their own home, overnight, during the last two weeks of life. The appeal was a great success and raised a total of £140,000 in the end, of which the Charitable Trust donated £6,608.00. Our funds directly funded 14 nights of care supporting 11 patients. The care staff were briefed each evening in readiness for their visit which involved understanding medical conditions of the patient, the family dynamics, if loved ones were present, and information about the patient which would help to ensure the patient to feel well supported by the staff member caring for them. Here’s some feedback from a family member of a hospice at home patient: ‘’We just wanted to write and say a huge thank you for arranging the lovely nurse Anne to help us with our Mum on her final night. Anne was so sweet and caring and she cared for my mum so well.  My mum passed just before Anne was due to leave. We so appreciated her help and kindness. Thank you for all the wonderful work you all do.’’ The hospice were also delighted to share that during their appeal they entered conversations with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and have secured significant funding to provide a daytime service which has expanded the Hospice at Home service to cover day and night. Nancy Oldfield Trust The Trust offers accessible accommodation, canoeing, sailing and motor cruising on the Norfolk Broads and put together an ‘Enhanced Accessibility’ project to improve the accessibility of their premises. They were given a grant of £3,746.48 to purchase an automatic door system. Since the installation of the system in May 2020 approximately 180 visitors have benefited. The visitor numbers were significantly impacted by Covid-19 and various lockdowns but in more normal years in the future we would expect around 750 to 1000 visitors to enjoy the convenience of the new system each year. ‘’The automatic door system has made it immeasurably easier for our visitors to move between rooms in our residential bungalow and this has been of particular benefit for our visitors with wheelchairs. It has also made the bungalow much safer as visitors were known to prop open fire doors with chairs despite advice and warning notices.’’

We’re now taking orders for our Christmas hampers which sold really well last year. Packed with great Norfolk products the hampers make an ideal gift for family, friends or as a corporate gift for your clients. By buying one of your hampers you’ll be helping our community in three ways:

• Sales help fund our work preventing poverty, hunger and homelessness in Norwich
• You’ll be supporting many local businesses whose products are in the hampers.
• When you buy a hamper, we will provide a free one containing essential items plus treats to someone vulnerable in Norwich.

They’re selling fast so if you’re struggling for Christmas present ideas order yours today

For those in the corporate world, the festive season brings with it invitations to parties with an expectation that alcohol will be freely consumed….and you will be involved! How do you navigate these events if you’re sober? Mark and James welcome the ‘Sober Exec’ Chris Anthony to chat about navigating the corporate drinks culture. Chris talks about what life is like at the top of the corporate world; with over 25 years’ experience in the tech sector, Chris is now the Vice President of U.S. Consumer Goods at Salesforce Marketing Cloud. He stands out not only for his expertise and experience, but for his 15 years of sobriety. He offers inspiration and guidance for others struggling to navigate their way through the drink-heavy culture that exists in the competition for corporate management roles. On the morning of New Year’s Day 2020, Chris realised that he had been sober for 15 years but had not shared this information publicly. He quit drinking after it became a problem for him back in 2005 – wrecking his career path and marriage, but he kept it secret because he was ashamed that it had become an issue, and the world he lived in thrived on wining and dining, ostracising anyone ‘not playing ball’. Chris shares insight into how he navigated through his career without a drink in his hand, and how his sobriety was key to his success and happiness, leading him to discover his true purpose in life “to be of service to others”. Fast forward to 2020, Chris realised he could make a difference by speaking out about his sobriety, which prompted one of his fellow execs to ask him for help. Chris knew then that he had a new purpose and launched Sober Force, and his role as ‘The Sober Exec’, which sees him working as a motivational speaker and consultant for businesses who want guidance on how to structure their seasonal and social activities. Chris also observes how sobriety health is now good for business, using football as an example, where in rejecting the pub culture of the 70s, the modern Premiere League acts as proof that good health can maximise profits! Chris is also extremely passionate about his philanthropic work; holding advisory board roles for several non-profit organisations including Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation, and is an active mentor supporting US Navy SEALs transition into successful business roles. He talks us through how his work for them have both inspired his personal recovery and motivated his work with others. This episode explores the power of resilience, how to combat peer pressure at work, how to be prepared instead of reactive, what businesses can do to embrace EVERYONE in their team and why making healthy decisions don’t need an apology. His personal journey and professional insight make for inspirational listening, especially as we head into the Christmas season and the inevitable ‘social’ pressures this will bring. You can read Chris’s public LinkedIn statement about his sobriety, that sparked his new journey in life, here. Show notes The Sober Exec – check out Chris’s work here Follow Chris on Instagram for daily inspirational posts! @Thesoberexec The Sales Enablement Podcast with Andy Paul LinkedIn – Sales Force – Chris appears on this podcast as a representative of The Sober Exec and not Sales Force, his opinions are his own, and not those of Sales Force. If you would like to know more about Sale Force, you can visit their site here, and connect with them on LinkedIn. Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation Los Angeles Forward Operating Base (FOB) for SEAL Future Foundation (SFF) Books: Atomic Habits – James Clear Psycho-Cybernetics – Maxwell Maltz Top tips – James and Mark summarise the chat: 56:03 – recognising in order to help others, look after yourself first 57:33 – never be afraid to ask for help! 59:00 – be ready, and practice/prepare for questions on a sober night out You can get in touch with James and Mark on podcast@larking-gowen.co.uk, we would love to hear your feedback on this, or any of our episodes! www.larking-gowen.co.uk/ibc  

The Witans are a small group comprising of eight local businessmen who have come together for a simple common goal, to raise money and assist those in need. This may sound like your standard charity organisation however what differentiates the Witans from their larger more bureaucratic brethren is their commitment to helping those in need directly. By casting aside the pen pushers and applications forms the Witans are able to quickly, and effectively help those whom need it the most. There are no waiting lists, questionnaires or requirements, they simply hear about someone in need and they help them. Like Robin Hood’s band of merry men but instead of stealing from the rich they buy from each other. Each business auctions a service or product from their company to which the others bid with the accumulative total then being divided into two lots of £300 contributions every quarter or more for exceptional circumstances to those that need a helping hand. The evening was commenced by Mick Whitman better known as Captain Mainwaring from the Dads Army Museum and by bidding on such items as a season ticket for Thetford Football Club, a complimentary chimney sweep or dinner for two in your own home prepared and cooked by Rock ‘n’ Roll Chef Tony Liddell it was as one member said “Great to see local businesses working together to improve the lives of the local community. On the 16th July The Witans raised an astounding £1665 which will go directly to those that need it most. If you, or someone you know is in need, you can apply for this unique contribution by emailing gez.chetal@trusthouseleisure.co.uk and simply state your reasons and circumstances. The Witans “Making the world a little better one Auction at a time” https://www.facebook.com/173401292745295/posts/3233198076765586/

Supporting Economic Growth in Norfolk in 2021 2021 has been an exciting and challenging year for all of us, the success of the NHS vaccination programme ramping up has seen the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions.We have been working together with district and New Anglia LEP colleagues to support the businesses in our region through the everchanging climate and build better foundations for the future. Norfolk County Council’s long term business plan, Together for Norfolk (TfN) continues to be implemented, our challenge is to respond to the current economic conditions in the context of TfN. Focusing on inclusive growth and improving social mobility, investing in benefitting people’s lives and delivering outcomes that will create the impetus for our future economic and social wellbeing. We have pledged as a council to work with all our partners to help as many businesses as possible to survive, and as many people as possible to stay in work or secure alternative work or training through our skills and employment programmes. This document outlines some of the council’s achievements in 2021, as we continue to invest in infrastructure, people and businesses. It also touches on our role to support the care sector and achieve better IT connectivity across the county as well as future opportunities and key developments taking place in Norfolk in 2022 and how we will continue to support new and existing businesses. If you would like to find out more about any the initiatives in this briefing document or ask any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us on haveyoursay@norfolk.gov.uk. You can view the full report below.  2022-23_business_rates_report.pdf