Original thinking and a fresh approach.

Our unique blend of availability and experience, coupled with our 'commercial' approach to business, means we are able to deliver timely, measured and effective advice.

We know that every business is driven by different needs and faces its own challenges, which is why we have invested in a blend of talent and experience to help you realise your goals whatever they may be. Our business advisory service focuses on the provision of practical support, helping resolve your problems and improve the quality of your business.

From business start up to maturity and beyond we offer a range of business development, consultancy and support advice throughout the lifetime of your business. Whether you want to raise capital for investment purposes, grow your business through acquisitions or realise its value, our business advisory team are on hand to provide advice at every stage.

"We are available to talk sense to you... throughout"

Put quite simply... poor planning costs you money.

Successful businesses plan ahead and invest time and resources in developing long term plans. It is too easy to succumb to the daily time pressures of work and delay or ignore the task of strategic planning. Poor planning can often result in rushed and misinformed decisions being made, inefficiencies and missed opportunities. Our business planning service can assist you in devising plans for the short, medium and long term.

Our team are committed to helping you achieve your goals, be it by:

• Assisting with your research and development of ideas
• Preparation of financial projections including project or job costings
• Reviewing assumptions relating to your product or service, business model, management resources etc
• Taking a robust approach to testing those ideas and assumptions
• Asking searching questions
• Rigorously testing the viability, financing and cashflows of your plans
• Drafting a detailed business plan
• Providing ongoing advice

In a changing and demanding environment, businesses must have the ability to react quickly and efficiently to address new challenges as and when they arrive. Should unforeseen circumstances arise in the trading environment, you can take comfort that appropriate short, medium and long term plans have been devised, and therefore any decision made in light of a change in circumstance will be made with all objectives in mind.

"We will challenge your plans to ensure their success"

A common sense approach to problem solving and maximising opportunities.

All business people work at the ‘coal face’, and it is sometimes difficult to take a step back and see the bigger picture. It is often not accountancy, tax or some technical input that is needed, but an insight or challenge which triggers a different view of an issue or problem (even when sometimes no problem is perceived).

Quite often this occurs by accident... although sitting down with us to discuss all aspects of the business is usually a basic requirement. For example:

• Robustly challenging the business' historic practices, systems and procedures has created new vigour in many businesses.

   

• Challenging assumptions such as that a business ‘knows’  they are making a profit on a project, department or operation, without the management information to support that statement, has proven to be an eye opener on more than one occasion.

"The experience of providing business advisory services for
25 years coupled with a questioning and searching style of advice"

Act before it is too late!

Our business recovery advice is dedicated to providing practical solutions to the problems encountered by financially distressed and underperforming businesses. We are committed to seeking constructive solutions to challenging difficulties. Our team will therefore appraise the situation and devise ‘a best course of action’ to promote the survival and recoverability of the business before it is too late.

We have found through experience that timely intervention and the application of proper advice can radically change what was maybe percieved as a hopeless situation.

Regardless of the size or nature of your business, our pro-active advice can assist you through the difficult times and provide support for you when your business is growing. Please also refer to our business advisory and business planning services.

"We are not insolvency practitioners!"

Are you interested in minimising your future tax liabilities? Of course you are!

Fine tuning your business to operate at its most tax efficient level is one of the best investments an owner/manager can make. All business transactions have a tax dimension and so it is essential that you build tax planning into your strategy at an early stage and continue to see it as a commercial priority.

Tax rates, and, the increasing complexity and scope of tax legislation mean that ‘nasty’ tax related surprises are a major business and personal risk. When considered in conjunction with the penalty regime for getting it ‘wrong’, then an avoidable business cost is created.

Managing your tax affairs in a complex and evolving tax system requires sound planning and advice that considers the ‘bigger picture.’ Our highly qualified tax team will endeavour to find the balance between your current obligations and your future business goals. Our aim is to make your tax position as simple as possible and ensure that you take full advantage of options and entitlements that will keep the amount of tax that you pay to a minimum.

"Planning... it takes time and thought!"

We find it surprising how many business owners have no 'exit' strategy.

It is never too early to start thinking about your succession/exit plan to ensure your wealth is maximised. In our view it is more than just finding a buyer for your business. Our team will work with you at an early stage to determine your succession/exit plan requirements, providing you with practical advice in relinquishing control of your business.

Succession planning should form a key part of your overall business plan. Your intentions in respect of your exit plan will have an impact on how you run your business from the start. A lack of formal succession planning could result in difficulties in transferring ownership within a short time frame, and can also risk the long term future and success of your business.

We will work with you throughout the planning process to ensure that at the point of your exit, you are able to enjoy your favoured lifestyle, retaining the maximum amount of wealth and when the time comes, ensuring that the estate is passed on in the most tax efficient way.

"Our business advice ethos is driven by examining your personal vision and
requirements, and assisting you to turn them into reality"

The natural progression from traditional accountacy services.

We consider that accountancy is about organising, presenting and interpreting ‘information’ only some of which is in ‘classic’ accounting formats of Profit and Loss Accounts and Balance Sheets. On their own (and produced in a timely and accurate manner) these reports can tell you a lot. However more is needed (and is easily available) if a modern accounting software package such as Sage is used.

However even when using a recognised software package, the information being made available may only ‘scratch’ at the surface of what could be available. Quite often the system is installed by an IT ‘consultant’ and the bookkeeper simply switches it on; most stop there.

Efficient and effective management information systems start here.

We provide a service which proactively extracts from clients their business requirements.  We then from our extensive experience will make suggestions about the set up, configuration, procedures, formats etc to provide the information that the business ‘needs’ not what it thinks it wants. Involved in this area of management information systems may be:

• Departmental, sales and product analysis
• Budget versus actual on monthly and year to date bases
• Overhead analysis and allocation
• Key performance indicators (KPI’s), starting with the basic gross profit, wages percentages, overhead ratios, etc, etc....

"Providing really useful and timely management information is easy with
modern software... it just needs a bit of thought and application"

Invaluable should you come under HMRC investigation.

HMRC Enquiries

The way HMRC operates is changing with the passing of the law of the Finance Act 2008, which gives inspectors far greater powers than previously. The discovery of a simple, unintentional error causing an underpayment of tax may lead to you paying HMRC large penalties as well as repaying all the tax you are deemed to owe.

We consider that the current regime is potentially so aggressive and punitive that we devote much energy and thought to avoiding such a situation with proper compliance systems and procedures for our clients. However a ‘random’ HMRC investigation can be a seriously distracting and very expensive worry.

If you are chosen for an investigation, we will assist you using our considerable expertise to ensure that the outcome is as favourable as possible. In most cases, we will be able to reach a settlement with HMRC that is considerably lower than their original demand; in some cases we may convince them to withdraw their claim altogether. However, this can take a considerable amount of time and, even if no additional tax or penalty payment is due, we will still have to charge you for the professional fees incurred in dealing with HMRC on your behalf; such fees frequently amount to thousands of pounds.

Premier Protection

CCH Premier Protection can significantly reduce the financial burden you would face if you became the subject of an investigation by HMRC. For a small annual subscription, the scheme will provide you with the equivalent of up to £100,000 worth of our time in the event of a written intervention by the tax authorities and enables us to dedicate as much time as necessary to get the best result for you, without worrying about spiraling expenses.

See our 'Key Features' document, CCH's detailed 'Business Support Profile' and the videos below for further details.

"Tax doesn't need to be taxing... if you take care, ensure proper
compliance and have tax fee protection"

Bringing clarity and sense to complex situations.

Whether you want to grow your business through acquisitions or mergers, realise your business' value through a sale or restructuring exercise, or simply (or not so simply as now is the case) raise capital for investment purposes, specialist advice should be sought.

Our Business Advisory Team have gained a wealth of experience from advising individuals, companies and other institutions for a number of years on a range of acquisitions, mergers and sales throughout the United Kingdom.

The key element of any business transaction is to consider the ‘bigger picture.’ Being able to see this in addition to understanding your requirements and more importantly, your concerns, is critical to the process. We will assist you in evaluating your options by ensuring that you have considered amongst other considerations:

• Why? (the motivation for the deal),
• How? (the deal is to be structured),
• When? (the timing of the deal)
• People and management? (TUPE issues, pensions etc),
• Market and location? (how does this fit into your business model),
• Finance? (who will pay and how).

Our primary objective is to deliver the best deal possible to you. On many occasions the deals we have advised on have been a ‘once in a lifetime deal’ for the individuals concerned. You therefore can’t afford for mistakes to occur during this process. We are however able to offer practical solutions and sound recommendations, coupled with strong negotiating skills and a proven track record, to enable the successful completion of any deal.