Queen Bee & Co is excited to offer you an excellent and limited opportunity to put your name in lights. Have your 15 minutes of fame* and promote your business in the most effective way! You’ll be filmed within a professional set-up and studio lighting, with the guidance of the professional videographers. You can explain all about your business and why people should choose to buy from you, or offer a quick tip relevant to your industry – whichever you think is most engaging for your audience. You’ll receive a premium-grade, fully polished (1-2 mins), edited video sent to you, ready for you to upload to YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, your website, or any other place you wish. Check out the video below for an example of how your video would look: All of the above is on offer for the fantastic price of just £349, for a fully-fledged, elite-quality promo video that helps you to get more sales and ultimately grow your business. This represents a huge saving compared to if you hired a video production company independently, as they usually start from around £800 minimum. Book your slot now while there’s still chance – there are only 6 slots available so don’t delay. Filming takes place on Friday 24^th March 2023 in Buckminster. Free refreshments provided. Book today and get ready for lights… camera… action! Book by filling in the quick form here: www.queenbeeandco.co.uk/contact *Filming will take approx. 10-20 minutes, final edited video approx. 1-2 minutes. The filming will be at one location in Buckminster (not at your own premises) and as such there can be no ‘b-roll’ of your business included, the entire video will be you and/or your customers talking to camera/to the interviewer. Full T&C apply and must be signed as part of the booking procedure. Book by 1st January 2023 at latest. Example video above filmed on customer premises, background for this shoot will be greenscreen.

Kelly Goodchild, tax manager at Streets Chartered Accountants, considers whether you may need to submit a Self-Assessment return. There are a number of reasons why you might need to complete a Self-Assessment return. This includes if you are self-employed, a company director, have an annual income over £100,000 and / or have income from savings, investment or property. Taxpayers that need to complete a Self-Assessment return for the first time should inform HMRC as soon as possible. The latest date that HMRC should be notified is by 5 October following the end of the tax year for which a Self-Assessment return needs to be filed. If you are required to submit a Self-Assessment return for 2021-22, you should ensure that you file your tax return electronically and pay any tax due by 31 January 2023. HMRC has an online tool (www.gov.uk/check-if-you-need-tax-return/) that can help you check if you are required to submit a Self-Assessment return. The list of taxpayers that are usually required to submit a Self-Assessment return includes:

• The self-employed (earning more than £1,000);
• Taxpayers who had £2,500 or more in untaxed income;
• Those with savings or investment income of £10,000 or more before tax;
• Taxpayers who made profits from selling things like shares, a second home or other chargeable assets and need to pay Capital Gains Tax;
• Company directors – unless it was for a non-profit organisation (such as a charity) and you did not get any pay or benefits, like a company car;
• Taxpayers whose income (or that of their partner’s) was over £50,000 and one of you claimed Child Benefit;
• Taxpayers who had income from abroad that they needed to pay tax on;
• Taxpayers who lived abroad and had a UK income;
• Income over £100,000.

You may choose to complete your own Self-Assessment tax return. However, you may find using the services of a tax specialist has a number of benefits. These include:

• Ensuring all tax allowances and deductions are claimed
• Easing the burden of additional paperwork
• Specialist tax knowledge which can help you minimise or even mitigate fully any tax liability, now or in the future.

Whilst the deadline for filing your return may seem months away, the sooner it is completed even if you don’t submit it, the sooner you will have peace of mind, be able to budget or plan to make a payment, but also ensure that any tax demand is as little as it can be. See this column in the October edition of East Midlands Business Link Magazine here.

Three-quarters of respondent businesses have been impacted by labour shortages over the last year and a majority now believe the issue is a threat to labour market competitiveness, in a new survey out today (Tuesday). In its annual Employment Trends Survey with Pertemps Network Group, the CBI reports that “shortages in the labour market are having a material impact on firms’ ability to operate at full capacity, let alone grow.” Many businesses have responded by investing in training, while also increasing pay and improving their offer to staff to help retain workers and attract new recruits. The survey found that:

• Nearly half (46%) of those who have faced labour shortages in the past 12 months have been unable to meet output demands; 36% made changes to or reduced the products or services they offer, while 26% reduced planned capital investment.
• Nearly three quarters of respondents (72%) said the UK has become a less attractive place to invest/do business in over the past five years.

• Respondents were most likely to see shortages of labour (75%) and access to skills (72%) as threats to labour market competitiveness. Concern about labour costs (59%) has risen on last year and the cost of living (69%) has become a significantly larger threat. Meanwhile, concern about the impact of employment regulation (35%) has been stable.
• Seven in ten respondents (70%) thought access to labour would still be a threat to labour market competitiveness in 5 years’ time.
• In response to labour market shortages: 55% of firms reported that they are investing in training to upskill current employees; 56% are investing in base pay; 45% in improving their Employee Value Proposition; while 40% are investing more in technology/automation.

• When asked what measures government should prioritise to help ease labour shortages, 46% called for the government to introduce incentives to help businesses invest in technology and automation to boost productivity, while 44% wanted government to grant temporary visas for roles that are in obvious shortage.

Matthew Percival, CBI director for skills & inclusion said: “It is crystal clear that labour market shortages are having a material impact on firms’ ability to operate at full capacity, let alone grow. “Businesses are pulling every lever they can to attract and retain employees, but this is making productivity boosting investments like training and automation harder. “To go for growth and build a higher-wage economy we will need to ease shortages to create the conditions for higher investment. That means helping more British workers to overcome barriers into the workplace, like a lack of affordable childcare, and taking a pragmatic approach to immigration. “The Government has committed to looking at both issues which is great to see, and urgently updating the Shortage Occupations List should be the starting point. The Apprenticeship Levy stops firms investing in the skills their employees need and is in dire need of reform.” Carmen Watson, chair of Pertemps Network Group, said: “The issues we are seeing in terms of labour shortages are not new and are not going to go away in the short term. The issues are being exacerbated by the current economic climate. “Candidates are in a position to be very selective. It is not all about salary – real pay growth currently stands at minus 2.5%, taking into account inflation, so employees are feeling the pinch. As well as doing everything possible to address this pay growth shortfall,  it is about the whole package of incentives, wellbeing support and flexible working that is on offer when an organisation is seeking new employees. “The figures in this survey should be a wake-up call to any businesses who are not already taking a long, hard look at their attraction and retention policies. “We need to reach out to all the people out there. There is a wealth of untapped talent who, with the right incentives and the right training, can be a valuable resource to overcome the concerns expressed by respondents to this survey. “For companies to survive this, they need robust attraction and retention policies, with investment in training and development and a focus on diversity, equality and inclusion, as well as the environmental performance of the organisation. “There is no single thing that can be done to solve the labour issues – it involves collaboration between supply chains, businesses and recruiters to come up with longer-term, sustainable, recruitment strategies.” On future hiring intentions and the impact of inflation on pay reviews:

• A third of respondents (33%) planned higher levels of recruitment for permanent roles over the coming 12 months compared to the previous year, down from 46% last year, while 39% expected the same level of recruitment.

• Nearly half (46%) of respondents whose firms are taking action to support employees on cost of living reported bringing forward or having additional pay reviews, and 36% gave staff one-off bonus payments.
• A third (34%) of respondents reported that their organisation’s approach to the next pay round was best described as ‘giving a general increase below inflation’, significantly higher than previous years; organisations giving a pay increase in line with inflation (29%) is the lowest since 2012.
• Only 7% expected to provide a general pay increase above inflation in their next pay round, the lowest in almost a decade.

Jennifer Beckwith, CBI deputy director for employment policy, said: “One of the ways high inflation hurts households is through making it harder for employers to offer the kind of pay rises that will match the rising costs people are facing without putting up prices. It also means most businesses, and the highest proportion since we started asking the question in 2018, are now worried about labour costs threatening UK labour market competitiveness. “The Government has moved swiftly to support households and businesses on energy costs, and firms are doing what they can to find ways of supporting their staff through the cost-of-living crisis. In the months ahead, Government and business will need to work together to set the UK on a path to higher productivity – the only sustainable way to achieve long-term wage growth.” When asked what the Government should do next on the National Living Wage, the survey found that a narrow majority of employers (53%) thought that they should be focused on productivity and growth in order to increase wages across the board, while relying on the current relative target for the National Living Wage (two-thirds of median earnings) to ensure that it rises too. The Employment Trends Survey was conducted between 16 August and 1 September with 325 firms responding, prior to the Government’s detailed announcement on energy support for business and the fiscal statement.

Derby-based doughnut firm Project D has teamed up with Nottingham sweet company Treat Kitchen to combine the best of both products. This ‘match made in heaven’ was officially launched on Saturday, October 1, at the Treat Kitchen flagship store, in Nottingham’s Victoria Centre. The occasion was marked by a bumper giveaway of 500 free doughnuts, which were gone within the first hour and saw customers queueing to the doors of the main centre. Thousands more have been sold during the first full week of trading. Project D has specially crafted the doughnuts for its new permanent Nottingham concession to include Treat Kitchen’s wide range of confectionery products. The partnership agreement includes the sale of Project D’s vegan doughnut recipe, designed to complement the sweet manufacturer’s own ‘gourmet’ vegan confectionery range. Max Poynton, operations director for Project D, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have entered this partnership and to finally have a permanent home in Nottingham city centre. “Project D has proved insanely popular with the public every time we’ve held an event in Nottinghamshire, so the deal with Treat Kitchen is simply fantastic. The store was absolutely inundated during the launch event, and trade has not slowed down in our first full week there. “Treat Kitchen holds many of the same values that we do at Project D, and it’s clear that shoppers in Nottingham love the new products. “And, with the special vegan range, combining with Treat Kitchen’s amazing gourmet range of vegan sweets, there’s something for everyone.” Treat Kitchen has allocated an impressive nine-tray display cabinet in its store to the new doughnut concession. The partnership with Project D was initially sparked by a chance meeting with Max Poynton at a Midlands business networking event. Jess Barnett, co-founder and brand director of Treat Kitchen, said: “As soon as we started chatting, it was clear that Project D had lots of crossovers with our own business. “Things like the vegan elements, which we both supplied, and the joyous, treat focus of our brands, meant it was likely to be a match made in heaven. “The hugely popular launch of our partnership represented yet another exciting product that we’re proud to add to our range. Like Project D, which has seen meteoric growth since it launched in 2018, Treat Kitchen has seen its business grow by 300 per cent over the last three years.

For World Mental Health Day (10^th October), David Wilson Homes East Midlands is encouraging open discussions about mental health in the workplace. Three employees for the housebuilder have undergone training in mental health first aid, and are now the first port of call for colleagues who are experiencing issues with their mental wellbeing. One of the Mental Health First Aiders based at the developer’s head office in Coalville, Tina White, is sharing her experiences to help spread awareness of the importance of mental health. Tina, 42, who works as an Assistant Accountant, said: “Employees were asked to come forward if they wished to become a Mental Health First Aider, and after some thought I put myself forward. “I found the training process very easy and informative, the training consisted of four sessions spread over two weeks with some additional studying online between training sessions. “There was a mixture of listening to the instructor, watching online videos and reading involved including some mini workshops where we would practice how we would approach various situations.” Tina’s training not only enabled her to learn how to promote positive mental health among colleagues, but also learn things about mental health that she wasn’t previously aware of. She continued: “It’s not always obvious that someone is struggling with their mental health and many people will mask how they feel. “It is very important to talk about mental health to break down the stigma often attached to mental health, to make it easier for people to come forward and seek help and to make it easier to for people share their experiences. I don’t think the importance has increased over recent years; I feel that we are becoming more open to talking about mental health.” Promoting the importance of mental health in the workplace is a huge focus for the developer, as raising awareness and offering resources provides a step towards improved mental health for workers in the construction sector. According to the mental health charity Mind, one in four people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England; with one in six people reporting experiencing a common mental health problem, like anxiety and depression, in any given week. Tina is encouraging people to consider mental health training to help support others around them. She added: “I am proud to be a part of a great team that is there to help others in their time of need. “I feel the more people that become Mental Health First Aiders, the more open we will all be to talking about mental health.” John Reddington, Managing Director at David Wilson Homes East Midlands, said: “We are incredibly proud as the UK’s leading housebuilder to offer this mental health first aid training to our employees. Tina is a credit to the company for her enthusiasm and fantastic support to colleagues. “Our employees and their mental health are of upmost importance to us and we couldn’t be happier to be leading the change in discussing mental health within construction.”

New data, for World Mental Health Day (10 October), from HR, payroll, and finance experts MHR reveals over 6 in 10 (62%) employees believe their employer does not care about their mental wellbeing, with over half (55%) of respondents feeling pressures to hide their mental health concerns at work. Employees across the UK and Ireland are facing the detrimental affects of the cost-of-living crisis, presenting strains on both financial and mental wellbeing. When asked what triggers the most stress during the cost-of-living crisis, the rising of bills came in as the top factor at 46%, followed by 29% saying energy costs. Over a third (34%) of respondents also said that their employers providing financial support would help their mental wellbeing over more flexibility, better workloads, and stronger benefits. Prices are continuing to rise and the cost-of-living crisis is showing no sign of slowing down. With respondents showing that bills are triggering the most stress, and that financial support could help to improve mental wellbeing – financial and mental wellbeing present themselves as an intertwined problem that organisations need to tackle this World Mental Health Day. Jeanette Wheeler, chief HR officer at MHR, said: “In recent years employee wellbeing has been a top focus for many employers, but the ongoing cost-of-living crisis shows that all aspects of wellbeing should be looked after, including financial and mental wellbeing. “While many may not be able to provide additional financial support, there are other ways to reduce stress and improve mental wellbeing during this time. Be it adjusting deadlines, considering other benefits to cut costs, and simply being a sympathetic ear for a colleague. “The fact that employees feel pressured into hiding their mental health is concerning, and with some believing their employer doesn’t care about their mental wellbeing at all, shows a real division between employers and employees. “To bridge this gap, employers need to form connections with employees beyond work and prove that their mental health comes first. Having these conversations is advantageous to everyone as will enable employees to get their concerns off their chests, perhaps find a solution, or simply start to feel in a better place after talking with another person.”