2021 promises to be a year of recovery and regrowth with new opportunities emerging. Now, more than ever, businesses need to refocus their efforts to adapt to the new financial landscape.
Mercer & Hole is a leading accountancy firm in Milton Keynes, along with offices in London, St Albans and Rickmansworth, working across a wide range of industry sectors. The firm has been part of the Milton Keynes business community for over 30 years and prides itself on providing expert advice with a friendly and pragmatic approach.
Mercer & Hole strongly believes that planning today is essential for success tomorrow. “Positive news gives businesses something to plan for,” said Andrew Lawes, Audit and Business Advisory Partner.
To help, the advisory team has created simple and adaptable recovery planning tools, including a guide to creating a one-page business plan and a financial checklist, which can be accessed on www.mercerhole.co.uk
In addition, the accountancy firm has created an expansive COVID-19 Business Support Hub and a Brexit Hub, both of which provide a comprehensive and easily digestible round-up of information. Peter Godfrey-Evans, Restructuring Partner, uses these tools to work with businesses to offer guidance to help re-establish financial stability and implement appropriate solutions.
New challenges
If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that businesses need to be able to adapt in the face of adversity to survive.
Partner Steve Robinson said: “It’s important in business planning to look beyond the pandemic to post-Brexit and what this might bring. It might be that businesses need to find new ways of working to cope with the changes.”
There are some significant VAT changes planned that take effect from March 1 for the construction sector, with the delayed domestic reverse charge for building and construction services. There is also the question of recovery from the pandemic and how this will affect taxpayers. The Mercer & Hole team can advise on all aspects of taxation and how it might affect you and your business.
“Many businesses are considering what ‘normal’ actually looks like in the future. There are a variety of outcomes for businesses to consider,” said Jacqui Gudgion, Corporate Business and Tax Partner.
Some businesses have emerged intact but on a smaller scale and they may have found they need less space and fewer overheads, which might mean selling premises to buy something smaller.
“Where property is sold realising a capital gain in the same period as a trading loss is incurred, the two can usually be offset for tax purposes,” added Jacqui.
Business as usual – but bigger
Although times have been tough for many, some businesses have diversified and even thrived since March 2020, which means they now need to focus on managing their new growth.
A business can reorganise itself in many ways to accommodate new needs such as demerging to create new entities. There may also be an opportunity to acquire a completely new business, which could take the form of a purchase of shares or of trade and assets.
Business as usual – new ownership
Another reason a business may be looking to reorganise is to reflect new ownership. Succession planning is a key event in the lifecycle of a business. The events over recent months may have caused people to reflect and decide that it is time to retire from the business.
Taxes and other considerations
Reorganisation of a business structure should be driven by the commercial need, but tax will always be a key factor alongside legal and financial considerations. Change of control, clauses in leases, movement of funding arrangements and the impact on employee incentive arrangements are just a few examples, but with the right team around you, these can be managed effectively.
Here for you
Mercer & Hole is one of the top firms in the UK for private individuals.
Private Client Tax Partner Lisa Spearman said: “I’m talking to clients about personal tax deferral time to pay, keeping their will and financial plans on track, lasting power of attorney, pension planning tax reliefs and retirement planning – all key issues to consider in 2021.”
This issue of All Things Business is about training and recruitment. The firm is proud to sponsor the Next Generation Chamber which helps to encourage the leaders of the future. Mercer & Hole is a training firm with many success stories of trainees working up to manager, director, and partner level.
Visit www.mercerhole.co.uk/careers and follow Mercer & Hole on Twitter and LinkedIn for all the latest vacancies and opportunities.
