OMS has joined the sponsor line up for the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2023, backing the Most Active Estate Agent category. Speaking with Business Link, a spokesperson for OMS said: “OMS are delighted to be sponsoring the Bricks Awards again this year, an annual East Midlands event. “It is wonderful to see and hear about all of the nominations within the awards and how they have made a great impact on the area with their work and projects completed and we are proud to be a part of it.” The awards, which will take place on Thursday 28 September at the Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, celebrate the outstanding work of those shaping the landscape of our region, recognising development projects and people in commercial and public building across the East Midlands – from offices, industrial and residential, through to community projects such as leisure schemes and schools. Nominations are now OPEN for East Midlands Business Link’s annual Bricks Awards. To nominate your (or another) business/development for one of our awards, please click on a category link below or visit this page.

Book your tickets now

Tickets can now be booked for the awards event – click here to secure yours. The special awards evening and networking event will be held on Thursday 28 September 2023 in the Derek Randall Suite at the Trent Bridge County Cricket Club from 4:30pm – 7:30pm. Connect with local decision makers over canapés and complimentary drinks while applauding the outstanding companies and projects in our region, and hear from Mike Denby, Director of Inward Investment and Place Marketing at Leicester City Council, our keynote speaker. Dress code is standard business attire. Thanks to our sponsors:                                                             To be held at:

Clare Slattery, tax director at Streets Chartered Accountants, considers the most tax efficient salary for directors. For many years, director shareholders in limited companies have often been advised to take a small salary, at a rate to retain access to state pension credits and other benefits, and then supplement their income using dividends. Looking at the individual and the company together, this is a very tax effective route. As the gap grew between the Personal Allowance for Income Tax and the Primary Threshold, where National Insurance Contributions (NIC) are paid by employees, debate has grown over the most tax efficient level of salary with most directors still taking a salary at a level where they don’t pay any contributions but receive the credits. Many of you will remember the turmoil of the changes to NIC during the 2022/2023 tax year but 6 April 2023 saw new rates coming in and hopefully some stability. The main change going forwards is that the Primary Threshold has been aligned with the Personal Allowance so a salary of £12,570 may now be paid with usually no deductions being made. Depending on the other income of the director, there could be no change to their usual tax liabilities. However, the level of salary at which a company pays employer’s NIC has remained at £9,100 per year and so, if the salary is increased to £12,570, a liability of £478.86 will arise for the employer. Although an additional cost on the face of it, the additional Corporation Tax savings will still result in a net saving assuming the dividend is reduced by the same amount. With a Corporation Tax rate of 19%, the savings can be minimal but with the new rules applying for those from 1 April 2023 increasing the tax rate for some companies to 25% and, in certain circumstances, an effective tax rate of 26.5%, the savings are greater. Furthermore, these additional NIC costs for the company could be covered by the Employment Allowance thus further increasing the savings. If eligible, this allowance covers the first £5,000 of employer’s NIC. In order to claim the allowance, the employer must have at least one employee (not the director) or two directors on the payroll, so any company with only one director on the payroll is not able to claim the allowance. There are other factors to take into consideration, such as other income received by the director, but it is worth considering giving yourself a pay rise! See this column in the May edition of East Midlands Business Link Magazine here.

The headline NatWest East Midlands PMI® Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors – posted 51.5 in April, up slightly from 51.2 in March. The latest data signalled a marginal rise in output at East Midlands private sector firms. Nonetheless, the rate of expansion in activity was the fastest since May 2022. Greater output reportedly stemmed from increased new order inflows and further upticks in client demand. That said, the pace of growth was slower than the UK average, with only Wales registering a weaker rise in activity. East Midlands private sector firms signalled a third successive monthly upturn in new business during April. Companies linked the expansion to greater demand from existing clients and the acquisition of new customers. That said, the rate of growth slowed to only a marginal pace. In fact, of the 12 monitored regions, only Northern Ireland registered a slower increase in new orders. April data signalled a strengthening in business confidence across the East Midlands private sector. Output expectations improved to the highest since February 2022, with the region’s companies more upbeat about the outlook for output over the coming 12 months than the UK as a whole. Hopes for greater client demand, investment in marketing and new product development spurred optimism. Stronger business confidence was broad based, with manufacturers more upbeat than service providers. Private sector firms across the East Midlands registered a renewed rise in employment during April. The upturn was the third in the last four months, with the rate of job creation moderate overall. Higher workforce numbers were often attributed to greater business requirements following increased new orders. Of the 11 monitored UK regions that signalled growth in employment, only the North East recorded a slower uptick than the East Midlands. The level of outstanding business at East Midlands firms continued to contract in April, thereby extending the current sequence of decline to seven months. The rate of decrease was strong overall and the fastest in 2023 so far. Companies noted that sufficient capacity to process incoming new business allowed them to work through their backlogs successfully. The decline in work-in-hand was in contrast to the UK trend which signalled unchanged levels of incomplete business. East Midlands firms registered a marked rise in input costs at the start of the second quarter. Input prices increased following reports of greater raw material, supplier and wage bills. Nonetheless, the rate of cost inflation slowed again to the weakest since February 2021. The pace of increase was also slightly softer than the UK average. Manufacturers and service providers recorded slower upticks in cost burdens, although the latter saw much sharper increases in business expenses. April data indicated a renewed uptick in the rate of output charge inflation at East Midlands firms. The rise in selling prices was marked overall and sharper than the series average. Hikes in output charges were commonly linked to the pass through of higher costs to clients. The pace of charge inflation was the second-slowest in two years, despite being broadly in line with the UK average. Rashel Chowdhury, NatWest Midlands and East Regional Board, said: “East Midlands firms signalled a sustained upturn in output during April, as a further rise in new orders supported total activity. “Increased demand spurred firms on to expand workforce numbers, and the rate of job creation was the fastest since last October. In turn, companies were more upbeat in their expectations for the coming year as business confidence reached the highest in over a year. “Inflationary pressures remained marked, however. Although firms noted a softer rise in cost burdens again, there was a renewed acceleration in charge inflation which is likely to add strain to already challenged customer purchasing power.”