Member News

It’s official – James is a Responsible Individual…

HWB’s recently appointed Associate Director, James Flood, has been granted Responsible Individual status by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Having joined the Hampshire based accountancy firm in 2007 following his studies at Barton Peveril College in Eastleigh, James went through the company’s training programme and gained his chartered qualification in 2013.

He has been heavily involved in the firm’s audit service offering throughout his time with HWB, working on and managing assignments with owner managed SME businesses across many different industries, as well as academy schools.

His latest accolade underlines his growing experience within audit and James now adds to the six-strong team of Responsible Individuals (RIs) at the firm.

“I’ve always enjoyed working on audits, and really getting to know my clients and their businesses, so gaining my RI status was naturally the next step for me following my recent promotion.

“My RI licence means I can now sign-off audit reports for our owner managed clients which is a responsibility I am relishing,” said James.

To become a Responsible Individual you must provide evidence of a significant amount of audit experience, and also undertake specific continual training to ensure that you are maintaining your knowledge and are up to date with any changes in the sector.

Congratulating James on his achievement, Managing Director Geoff Rhodes said: “James is a product of our in-house student training programme and a great example of what can be achieved through hard work and dedication.

“He works closely with a number of our owner managed business clients and is prominent in the audit of many of our academy schools.”

Electric vehicle charging – a quick guide to grants and tax benefits

There are lots of incentives and grants available for companies (and homeowners) looking to purchase electric vehicles (EVs) and install EV charging points.

The Plug-in Grant: You can get a discount on a new electric vehicle if it’s on the Government’s list of approved models. This applies to a variety of vehicle types and grants range from £1.5K (for motorcycles) to £20K (for large vans and trucks).

Charger Grants: The Government’s Workplace Charging and Homecharge Schemes currently offer grants of £350/ unit towards the purchase and installation of EV chargers (up to 40 units, or £14,000 for business use) – again for qualifying models.

Super Deductions! Following the budget, electric vehicle chargers are now classed as ‘plant equipment’, so companies investing in EV charging will be able to claim a 130% superdeduction capital allowance on the equipment; this means for every pound a company invests, taxes are cut by up to 25p!

Benefit-In-Kind Tax: owners of zero emission vehicles are subject to 1% B-I-K tax, making EVs more attractive to company car drivers. In fact, due to this, the biggest growth in EV sales is for fleet purchases.

Exemptions: If you own a zero emission EV you are also exempt from vehicle road tax, excise tax and congestion charge.

Plus – you will have lower fuel bills and improved sustainability credentials.

Contact iDAC Solutions, your local EV specialist, for more information.

Winchester Motor Group celebrates success with Skoda

Winchester Motor Company and its sister company Garland Motors in Aldershot have a lot to celebrate by both finishing in the top ten Skoda dealers in the United Kingdom at the prestigious 2020 Skoda Retailer of the Year competition.

Garland Motors finished in sixth place and previous winner of the competition, Winchester Motor Company, in seventh making them the best performing Skoda retailers in Hampshire and the best performing dealer group in the UK.

‘To have one retailer in the top ten is a fantastic result, but to have both in the top ten is outstanding and is a great reward for all my staff who work tirelessly to make both dealerships a great place for our customers to do business,’ said Group Managing Director Mark Mills-Goodlet. He continued: ‘When you consider four out of the five retailers who finished above us were from Scotland who were subjected to a shorter period of lockdown, we would have finished higher if we had been on a level playing field.’

The Skoda Retailer of the Year recognises high performance in twenty-one key performance indicators across the business in New and Used Car Sales and in Service and Parts, one of the main indicators being customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Combined, Winchester and Garlands have over 100 years’ experience with Skoda and Volkswagen so customers know that they are the people to trust when it comes to choosing their new Skoda.