companies house made easy

self-assessment deadline extended

Sole traders, entrepreneurs and other individuals who are required to fill out self-assessment tax returns will not receive a late filing penalty if they make their submission on the 1st or 2nd of February.

schools must develop entrepreneurs

The Forum for Private Business has called for schools to play a leading role in encouraging entrepreneurship amongst young people.

google targets welsh SMEs

Search engine giant Google has announced a 12 month campaign to get businesses in Wales to start using the web.

view all news

The UK Payments Council has announced that cheques will be phased out by 31st October 2018, which will force many small businesses to change their payment habits.

There has been a “terminal decline” in the use of cheques, according to the Council, particularly since chip and PIN technology has become more widely used, but many SMEs and sole traders still rely on them for making and receiving payments.

The Council has stated that the decision was made on the provision that a similar alternative was developed and made available by 2018, but they saw “no scenario” for cheques to still be used by that date.

"Cheques are generally the most expensive payment method for businesses to process and those costs are only set to rise as fewer and fewer people use them," stated Matthew Goodman, Policy Representative for the Forum of Private Business.

"As a result, our view is that if the decision is made to gradually phase out cheques over eight years, then we aren't opposed to it in principle."

The UK Payments Council is responsible for overseeing payment strategies within the UK.