Yes it is true!  H M Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has extended the tax dead line for the fiscal year ended 5 April 2011 by two days, from 31 January 2012 to 02 February 2012.

This is great news for those last minute individuals who are panicking that they may not get their information submitted in time, or for those who have requested online authorisation with only 7 days to spare! 

More than twenty thousand tax officers who are members of the Public & Commercial Services Union (PCS) are taking part in strikes as of 26 January 2012 through to 31 January 2012, namely – “lightening” walk-outs.

This means that should you require telephone assistance to submit your Self Assessment Tax Return (SA100) on line during the 26 January 2012 to the 31 January 2012 there will be minimal assistance available to you. 

The strike was put in place by PCS and its members when they learnt of HMRC intentions to outsource call handling and IT services to private companies saving HMRC at least £1bn although in turn putting many more jobs at risk.

HMRC have also announced that fifteen more offices around the UK could close during 2014/15 following the closure of more than 200 offices in the last three years!  PCS warns that “the closure of more tax offices will further damage our slumping economy”.

Statistics show that there are still more than two million individuals required to submit their tax returns online.  If you are one of those individuals, get on line as soon as possible to submit your tax return and be aware that although the two day extension is in place, the phone lines to HMRC during the 1st and 2nd of February 2012 will undoubtedly be inundated with calls.  

All tax returns submitted after the 2 February 2012 will incur penalty’s and fines even if there is no tax payable for the year.

Does the tax deadline extension effect you or your business?

What a great turnout, we had 23 attendees for our first lunch of 2012.

A few mentions – it was great to see both Polly & Molly from Pollyclinics in Mill Road who were enthusing over the infrared heating panels that have been installed for their hot yoga classes!

It was also good to see our accountants finding time from their January 31st deadlines to pop in for a bit of relaxation, Sadie Procter, James Hellyer & new member Kate Parsons.

It was also good to see Ian Starling from The Voice North Devon’s own radio station – currently online and soon to be on FM.

A good turnout of twitter folk – star attraction was Taxi Anne – attending her first ever business networking event – go on give her a follow – I hope we didn’t put her off coming back.

Some of our regulars deserve a mention too – Lance Rice, Graham Lofthouse, Barbara Fryer, Robert Zarywacz, Jimmy Jewel, Gloria O’Connel, Elaine Isaacs to name a few!

To find out what these people do, and to network in an informal atmosphere, why not come along to our next lunch – at Serendipity in Bideford on 24th February. It is important to book first as numbers for this event will be limited to 20!

It really is informal, no elevator speeches to give, as it is all about talking to people to find out what they do, rather than being told! It all adds to the atmosphere!

Contact me, Kevin the number on our home page to book your space.

If you would like to receive our monthly newsletter please also contact me, as it will remind you each month what is happening in and around North Devon, and where each month’s lunch will be!

I hope to see you there

Kevin

2012 is a leap year giving each of us one extra day on 29 February.

What could we do with that extra leap day? Are we going to carry on working or doing whatever we usually do or do we want to do something special with that time?

I’m blocking the day out so that I don’t do everyday work. I want to split the time between developing my business and enjoying the day.

There are so many ways to use our extra day.

Perhaps look at doing something you’ve planned to do in your business but never get round to doing. If you do have to work, can you take just a portion of the day to do something different or even try a different approach you’ve been meaning to take?

You could take the day as a well-earned holiday and relax. This can be just as important if you’re working flat out most days. Or perhaps there are things outside work and business that you want to use the time to address?

I’ve pencilled in a couple of North Devon Google+ leap day hangouts – at 9.30am and 8.00pm. Are you interested? All you need is a laptop/device with webcam and a Google+ account.

Whatever you choose to do with your extra day, let’s make the North Devon Leap Day into something positive.

Please tell us below how you plan to spend your #NDleap.

The Barnstaple and District Chamber of Commerce Business to Business exhibition could not have come at a better time for me.

Last week I attended the first part in a series of three training events that cover preparing for an exhibition, a field trip to the NEC Spring Fair to view good and possibly bad practice and a final one covering after the exhibition and feedback from the field trip.

These sessions are run by Business Buddies, through which my company is receiving mentoring and access to this training.

The first session covered:

• Why exhibit?
• What exhibitions are right for me?
• Stand management
• Managing enquiries
• Making the most of the exhibition
• Following up and deciding which leads are priorities
• Stand design
• Display
• Maximising your space
• Developing a plan

The most important thing to come out of the training was that no matter the shape or size of your stand and however fancy your display/support materials are the most important person is you – your appearance, your posture and where will you be in relation to your stand. on’t stand there eating, using your ‘phone etc remember first impressions last. The second most important thing is the customer – where will they be? How will you interact with them?

The training was very comprehensive so as I have decided to exhibit at the Chamber of Commerce exhibition I am looking forward to putting some of what I learnt into practice. I’m now looking forward to the trip to Birmingham with the rest of those that attended the training to get some ideas of how to improve when I exhibit.