New lending for SMEs, advantages of a family business, first chief ombudsman for legal complaints, rising claims of unfair dismissal and tougher tax checks.
Santander putting up £100m in new lending for SMEs
Santander, the Spanish bank with Abbey and Alliance & Leicester in its portfolio, says it is providing more than £100m in new lending for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Alliance & Leicester is joining the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme – the government-backed programme carrying a 75pc loan guarantee – while Abbey has applied to take a slice of the European Investment Bank's £15bn fund. (
Family fortunes
Family businesses are in a strong position to survive recession because of a low-risk approach and a long-term view, says a report produced by Barclays Wealth and the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Just over 40pc said money was their main motivation compared with 52pc in other businesses and only 10pc said they would consider selling up.
Strong family support was cited by 48pc as one of the advantages of a family business while 55pc said their most important motivation was the ability to help others.
Legal ombudsman
Patent and trade mark attorneys have welcomed the appointment of the first chief ombudsman for legal complaints.
Adam Sampson, currently chief executive of Shelter, the housing charity, will take up the new post on July 1. He will operate under the umbrella of the Office for Legal Complaints, set up to handle grouses about legal services, including those provided by patent and trade market attorneys.
Dismissal claims up
Unfair dismissal claims are rising sharply as unemployment grows.
Figures obtained by lawyers Eversheds from the Tribunals Service show there were 42,500 claims in the 10 months to end January compared with 40,900 in the whole of the previous year.
The firm predicts that as many as 51,000 cases could be brought by the end of March, producing a year-on-year increase of almost 25pc.
Taxing changes
Businesses are being told by HM Revenue & Customs they have less than a month to get ready to cope with the tougher series of tax checks following harmonisation of powers between the old Customs & Excise and Inland Revenue.
From April 1 HMRC will operate under a single set of powers covering PAYE, VAT, income tax, capital gains tax, Corporation Tax and the Construction Industry Scheme.
HMRC says that with new information and inspection powers, record keeping requirements, time limits for tax assessments and claims and accompanying safeguards, businesses need to be aware of what the changes will mean for them.
Source: Telegraph
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