Spring 2009
Welcome
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Our Newsletter now reaches over 12000 individual business leaders who have a
common interest in developing their company's establishment in the UK.
EBS has been working exclusively with foreign owned companies in the UK for 18
years and we have gained considerable experience in solving the many issues
which occur when entering a new market.
It is because of this that EBS became one of the founding partners in Bridge to
Growth, an innovative concept lead by Advantage West Midlands. Bridge to Growth brings together the public and private sectors in the West
Midlands region around Birmingham to provide a single source of information and
practical support as well as considerable discounts and free incentives to
businesses setting up in the region.
You can read more about Bridge to Growth, and how it could help your company
establish itself in the UK, which is the 4th largest economy in the world,
later on in the newsletter.
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Best regards
Martin Williams
EBS
Holiday Entitlements
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For most companies in a usual situation with full time employees this means 4
weeks holiday plus the usual public holidays in England, and slightly less in
other parts of the UK.
Part time employees are entitled to the same number of days proportionate to the
amount of time they work.
For our clients this will make no difference as they all give at least this
amount of holidays in their
contracts, but it is something of which you should be aware.
Please consult your usual professional adviser if you have any matters you need
to resolve as a result of this change.
Changes to Tax Rates
Income Tax
The amount which can be earned before any Income Tax is payable will increase to
GBP 6475 per year (GBP 540 per month).
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Income Tax is payable at 20% on the next GBP 37400, with the effect that on an
annual income of GBP 43875 the amount of Income Tax payable will be GBP 7480,
equivalent to 17%
Social Costs
National Insurance (Social Costs) are payable both by the company (the employer)
and the personnel (the employee), but at different rates.
The lower limit for paying any Social Costs is GBP 4940 per year, below which
there is nothing to pay. Above this the company pays 12.8%, and the personnel
pay 11.0% up to earnings of GBP 43888 per year, and 1.0% on any earnings above
that.
Tax payable on the benefit of having a company car
This can be a little complicated as it depends on the CO2 emissions of the car,
the manufacturer's list price of the car when new, and the fuel type. It is
important to remember that the actual price paid for the car is not relevant,
it is the list price when the car was new
that is used in the calculation.
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The amount of added to individual's income for tax purposes, and on which the
tax and social costs are calculated, can be reduced by the personnel making a
payment towards part of the capital cost of the car, up to a maximum of GBP
5000 per car, and also by the personnel paying the company for the use of the
car, in which case this will be fully offset against the taxable benefit.
In order to help the Tax Authorities have produced an online calculator, and you
can see this and work out for yourself the likely tax impact by going here.
Company Taxes
The rates of company taxes will be unchanged for the new tax year 2009 - 2010.
In simple terms the rate for companies with a taxable profit below GBP 300000
will be 21%, with the overall rate rising to 28% when the taxable profits reach
GBP 1.5 million (the Upper Limit).
Clearly the rate payable on profits between GBP 300000 and GBP 1.5 Million will
be more than 28% in order to bring the overall rate to 28% when the profits
reach the Upper Limit.
The amount of profits taxable at small companies rate of 21%, this year GBP
300000, is divided by the number of companies in the same group, so if there
are 3 companies including the UK company, the small company rate of 21% is
limited to the first GBP 100000 of profits.
This is potentially complicated and you are advised to seek advice from your
usual professional adviser before making any decisions based on this situation.
An information sheet is helpfully provided by the Tax Authorities and this can
be found here.
Bridge to Growth proves even more popular
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Over 400 delegates attended the five seminars, with about 175 delegates at Berns
Salonger in Stockholm on 11th March.
As home markets show signs of declining during 2009 many companies are looking
carefully at new opportunities, and the low risk and efficient solutions
offered by Bridge to Growth are proving to be very attractive.
The visit to Birmingham and the University of Warwick Science Park for Nordic
companies arranged for 12th and 13th May is already almost full. There is a
maximum of 26 company spaces available, and 24 of these are already taken. If
you attended any of the Nordic seminars and would like to join this visit where
you will have the opportunity to meet all the partners individually then please
go to www.bridgetogrowth.co.uk and click on your national flag.
If you would like more information please contact either of the speakers, Ulf
Ström on ulfstrom@advantagewm.co.uk or Martin Williams on
martin.williams@ebs.ltd.uk.
An Introduction to Bridge to Growth
Bridge to Growth is an innovative route for foreign owned companies to establish
themselves in the UK market. It is a cooperation between EBS, Advantage West
Midlands and an increasing number of private sector companies providing free
and reduced cost
services to help reduce risk and accelerate progress, for foreign owned businesses establishing themselves and intending to employ
personnel in the West Midlands Region, which is based around Birmingham.
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EBS has been working with foreign owned companies establishing themselves in the
UK since 1991, and therefore has many years experience of the issues which are
common to this kind of establishment. EBS focuses exclusively on foreign owned
companies as clients, and so has much experience of the wide variety of
questions which can arise when entering a new market.
The Bridge to Growth package is specifically designed with foreign owned
companies in mind, reducing risk and providing ready made solutions to the
usual issues, situations, problems, tasks, which are part of an expansion into
a new market.
To see four new Bridge to Growth benefits, and to discover how Bridge to Growth
can help you enjoy a free limited company, rent-free offices and market
information in the West Midlands, just click here.
Major Improvements for Transport Links in the West Midlands
In earlier editions of the UK Business Club Newsletter we have written about two
major projects which will create even better transport links in the West
Midlands region. Now we can tell you how well these projects are progressing.
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Firstly there is the GBP 600 million railway project at New Street Station in
Birmingham city centre that will increase capacity and modernise again what is
already one of the busiest railway stations in Europe. The railway station is
under The Pallasades shopping centre which has just been purchased by
Birmingham City Council enabling the Gateway project as it is called to move
forward.
Mick Laverty, chief executive at Advantage West Midlands, said: “This is an important and positive step forward for the Gateway project,
particularly in such a challenging time for the economy.
“Our £100 million investment is still the largest investment in a single regeneration
project by any regional development agency in the country and shows our
commitment to creating a world-class rail hub for West Midlands.
The other major project is the expansion at Birmingham Airport, which was given
the final OK from the local community which is responsible for approving the
planning application on 1st April.
In summary the Airport's current runway limits the range of long-haul
destinations available, which currently include: the East Coast of America and
some parts of the Middle East and Asia. A runway extension would allow the
Airport to accommodate flights to the West Coast of America, South Africa,
South America and the Far East, and will greatly improve the availability of
long distance direct air services for businesses in the West Midlands region.
Almost 10 million passengers used Birmingham Airport in 2008, making it the
second largest airport in the UK outside London.
It is proposed to extend the length of the runway by 405 metres (together with a
150 metre starter extension) to create a total runway length of approximately
3,004 metres.
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Other changes will includes an extension to the existing airfield boundary, the
treatment of obstacles (natural and man-made) beyond the airport site, a new
Air Traffic Control Tower, a new parallel and exit taxiway and alterations to
the existing Airport Fuel Farm.
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