Business and Other Briefings

BERR: Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has announced changes to the Government's Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme to help improve lending to businesses & social enterprises in disadvantaged areas.  The changes are intended to provide extra support to Community Development Finance Institutions by allowing them to access bank loans, worth up to £20m, through the EFG scheme.
 
Unity Trust Bank, in response to this change, has also announced that it is making an additional £5m available for onward lending by CDFIs that provide vital financial support to businesses & social enterprises which are unable to access bank lending due to the higher risk associated with supporting the disadvantaged groups and communities to which they lend.
 
In addition, the Cabinet Office, in partnership with the National Endowments for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), today announced a year long Access to Investment Programme, aimed to find ways for social enterprises to gain the advice & support they need to access new forms of growth finance.
Press release ~ Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme ~ CDFA ~ Community Development Finance Institutions ~ Unity Trust Bank ~ Keep your business fighting fit ~ Real help with finance now ~ NESTA: Social Enterprise Access to Investment programme
 
BERR: Business Minister, Shriti Vadera, recently met with leaders from big business and urged them to ‘pay fair’ and sign up to the Government's Prompt Payment Code. 11 new high profile companies have committed to sign-up to the Government's Prompt Payment Code and pay their suppliers promptly.
 
The pledges coincide with the launch of the Government's new information leaflet, 'Paying on time is good for businesses'.
Press release ~ Signatories to code ~ Prompt Payment Code ~ 'Paying on time is good for businesses'
 
OFT:  The Office of Fair Trading is warning the debt collection & tracing sector that using neighbours to pass on messages to trace subjects is an unacceptable practice and should be ceased immediately. It is concerned that some businesses are breaching the spirit of the OFT debt collection guidance by using this trace method, which has the potential to reveal to neighbours that individuals are being pursued for payment of debts. If businesses continue to use these tactics, the OFT will look to take swift enforcement action.
Press release ~ OFT debt collection guidance ~ Requirements imposed on offending company
 
HMRCRevenue & Customs Brief 31/09
This article explains the tax implications of the car and van scrappage scheme.
 
HMRCRevenue & Customs Brief 30/09
Shares acquired before 10 April 2003 by exercising employee share options. Computation of chargeable gain or allowable loss on a disposal of such shares where there was a charge to income tax on exercising the option.
HMRCRevenue & Customs Brief 29/09
This brief is of interest to bodies liable to Corporation Tax carrying out remediation work on land in the UK.
Free, Secure, Compliant UK Public Sector IT Recycling Service