Lord Sugar, You’re Sued!

07 / 03 / 2013

One of the most famous catchphrases on TV is Lord Sugar’s line: ‘You’re fired’ and it won’t be long before the multi-millionaire appears on our screens for another series of The Apprentice. Fans of the BBC show might remember Stella English, the contestant who won series six of the show back in 2010. I found the first series compelling then...

Are You Ready for RTI?

06 / 03 / 2013

From 6 April employers will have to start reporting PAYE information to HMRC in real time. This is being referred to as Real Time Information - or RTI. Research suggests that only 4% of SME businesses are aware of the impending payroll changes, so there’s likely to be a bit of a scramble by many businesses to get things sorted...

Pension tension

05 / 03 / 2013

The Victorians might have thought that discussing money was sordid, but here in the 21st century the question of what we’re going to live on when we hit old age is regularly discussed in the very best places. Money is always in the news one way or another. Yesterday the BBC reported that while HSBC did pretty well in a...

Home And Away

04 / 03 / 2013

Working remotely at least part of the time has become far more common because of the availability of suitable technology. By 2011 around 59% of UK companies offered some kind of teleworking. It might be used to save office costs; or because an individual lives too far from the physical workplace to commute comfortably on a daily basis; or where...

Cutting out the CEO coupon – Groupon founder sacked

01 / 03 / 2013

Groupon is a deal-of-the-day service for consumers, which now operates in around 50 countries. The idea is a simple one. Groupon emails an electronic coupon for a restaurant or shop in the subscriber’s town once a day, recommending the service and offering a substantial discount. The discount is only available if enough people buy within a certain time limit. If...