L N ocal ISSUE 19
etwork Magazine
How soft are you? Personalised Holidays Close Protection Training Where is your child? Popular Sayings Sticky BBQ Chicken Crossword & Word Search
THE WOODEN FURNITURE COMPANY Unit 2 Ford Farm, Braintree Road Dunmow CM6 1HU Tel: 01371 872292 www.woodenfurnituredunmow.co.uk Oak, Painted & Rattan Furniture for your Home & Garden. 1,000’s Square feet of furniture on display All at Rock Bottom Prices Open 7 Days a Week For more details see page 2
FREE Magazines delivered through the letterbox See www.localnetworkmag.co.uk for full distribution details www.localnetworkmag.co.uk Bishops Stortford, Sawbridgeworth, Stansted, Newport, Thaxted, Hatfield Heath, Hatfield, Broad Oak, Elsenham, Takeley & Canfield 1
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This Month Page 5 Watson Legal - Do I need a survey?
Page 19 Where 1s your child?
Page 9 Sticky BBQ Chicken
Page 21 Personalised Holidays
Page 11 Garden View
Page 24 The origin of popular sayings
Page 13 Steve Chew
Page 29 Crossword & Word search
Page 15 How soft are you?
Page 31 Under review!
Takeley Ironing & Dry Cleaning Services For all your domestic and commercial dry cleaning & laundry
Wash, Dry, Iron & Dry Cleaning Duvets and pillows laundered, Free hangers and packaging Professional and efficient service FREE COLLECTION AND DELIVERY
Call: 01279 871245
The Centre, Dunmow Road, Takeley, Herts. CM22 6SH Disclaimer While every care is taken to ensure accuracy, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for loss, damage or omission caused by error in the printing of artwork. All artwork is accepted on the strict condition that permission has been given for use in this publication. Adverts are accepted on the understanding that the description of the goods and services are fair and accurate. Local Network Magazine does not officially endorse and advertising material included in this publication. No part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in any retrievable system or transmitted in any form-electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise – without the consent of the publisher. Publisher: Local Network Magazine Ltd. 8 The Maltings, Thaxted, Essex. CM6 2NB
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Buying a House - Do I need a survey? The easy answer to that question is Yes. The next question is why? Buying a property is probably one of the most expensive purchases you will make in your lifetime, so you need to make sure it is the right choice. What if following the purchase of your dream home you find that there is subsidence, woodworm, an electrical fault or the boiler is unsafe, just to name a few potential issues. These can be expensive problems to rectify. Prevention is better than cure. The simplest way to avoid this type of scenario is by a property survey, which is undertaken by a Chartered Surveyor. The report will confirm whether the property you are purchasing is in the condition you expect for the price you are paying. Valuation - what is the difference? A survey should not be confused with a valuation. If you are buying with the help of a mortgage, the Mortgage Provider will undertake a valuation to determine whether the property is worth the money you are paying for it. The valuation will only involve a superficial inspection of the property. Sometimes the valuer does not even enter the property but just looks at it from the outside, often referred to as a driveby valuation. Two types of surveys - which one? There are two main types of property survey. The best, but most expensive, is the full structural survey. This is a thorough and detailed assessment of the condition of the property highlighting any defects, major or minor, what is required for these to be remedied and providing information about the possible cost of repair.
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This type of survey is particularly important if, the property you are looking to buy is older or perhaps more unusual, thatched or timber framed or you are planning major works or has already had extensive alterations. The other type of survey is the Homebuyers Report. This is not as detailed as the structural survey. The report will look at the general condition of the property, test for damp and damage to timbers (including woodworm and rot). It will consider the condition of any damp proofing and insulation and provide a figure for building insurance purposes should the property ever need to be rebuilt and provide the value of the property on the open market. Unlike a structural survey the surveyor will not be intrusive, they will not check under floorboards or move furniture. Whichever survey you decide upon, it is in your best interests for a survey to be undertaken at the earliest opportunity to guard against any unwelcome surprises once the property is yours. If you require any assistance in the sale or purchase of your home please call 01279 466910 or email info@watson-legal.com and let our friendly team show you a new way of providing legal services.
Julie Holdaway - Property Solicitor
Tel: 01279 466910 www.watson-legal.com info@watson-legal.com
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Palm Tree Pools is a family run business with over 50 years of experience in all AA Driving School are the only national driving school exclusively using fully aspects of swimming pool management qualified instructors. The green badge in the windscreen of your AA Driving School and maintenance.
carareassures you that your instructor is a fully qualified We based in Essex and offer unparalleled customer service and reliability. We offer a range of maintenance schemes to keep your pool ready to use whenever you need it, taking away the stress of pool management and maintenance.
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AA Driving instructors are self-employed franchisees and the contract for tuition is between the instructor and the pupil.
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Ingredients
n 12 chicken thighs (chicken wings or drumsticks can be used instead) n For the marinade: n 2 tbsp clear honey n 2 tbs tomato sauce n fresh ginger, peeled and grated (2.5cms / 1 ½”) n 1 garlic clove, crushed n 1½ tsp Chinese five spice n 2 tsp soy sauce n 1 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
n Mix together all of the marinade ingredients in a non-metallic bowl. n Pierce the chicken thighs several times with a fork place in the bowl with the marinade n Leave to marinate for at least 2 hours turn several times or leave to marinade overnight. n Once it has marinated, place the chicken on the barbecue over medium-hot coals and cook for about 20 minutes, brush with any leftover marinade as it cooks. It’s important you cook the chicken all the way, if its colouring too quickly move the thighs to a cooler part of the barbecue to cook more gently. n Make sure the chicken is cooked if you’re unsure, pierce the chicken with a skewer: if the juices are still pink, carry on cooking. n Cooking time about 20 – 25 mins. Cooked in the oven Gas no 4 / Elec 180c Fan Oven 160c for about 30 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes or more.
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Garden View
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Getting Started April is a great month for a garden project; one which can be achieved in a morning or an afternoon, and which improves a few square metres. You’ll feel you’ve achieved something wonderful and if you break the whole garden into a series of small projects it suddenly appears more manageable. Here are three to get you started. Strawberry Pots You don’t need a huge patch to enjoy growing strawberries. Plant a few in pots as a treat. Buy young, rich green plants which have been certified virus-free. Plant 3-4 in a 12 inch (30cm) clay pot. The crowns (where shoots meet roots) should be level with the compost surface. Water them in and stand in the shelter of a house wall. If you have a greenhouse or a cold frame they will establish more quickly and fruit earlier. Pinch off any runners which form. Grass Lawns always look bedraggled after the winter. Remove dead grass by raking the surface with a wire toothed rake. Improve drainage on heavy soil by spiking it with a garden fork every 6 inches (15cm) or so, to a depth of about 4 inches (10cm), giving the fork a good wiggle each time. Sweep sharp sand into the holes with a broom. Then mow the lawn with the blades set on high and remove the clippings. Two weeks later apply a combined weed killer and fertilizer. If you’re lucky it will rain within 24 hours. If not just water it in. Mow weekly to keep the lawn thick and healthy.
Seating Don’t forget an all-weather seat so you can sit and contemplate all your hard work over a cup of tea or a nip of something stronger. Rattan look furniture is particularly popular now and if you choose a good quality make it can last for years and be very low maintenance, it’s really easy to clean using a normal hosepipe or a power washer, can be left outdoors throughout the year and they look stunning. Position it in a sunny area. Buy a few flowering daffodils, tulips and pansies and plant them in a pretty pot next to the bench, then sit back and enjoy.
Happy Gardening Rachel Leverton 11
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Belloc and Devon At the turn of last century the great poet, raconteur, anglophile and all-round French Bloke, Hillaire Belloc, was quizzed rather aggressively by some fellow Frenchies - ’Why do you keep nipping off over the Channel and banging on about all things English? What’s the matter with France, ‘La Belle Pays?’ Why on Earth are you so keen on that ghastly island with its constant drizzle and bad cuisine?’ Belloc, as was his wont, took a deep breath, looked them squarely in the eyes and boomed “Parce-qu’il est vert” (Because it is green). I grew up in a South Devon seaside town which seemed to exist purely as somewhere to dream yourself away from. At 18 you were expected to leave home for the bright lights of the Big City, Totnes, perhaps. Allegedly there were places where the grass didn’t grow along the middle of the road and there were more people than cows. According to some there was life ‘Up North’ (to us that meant Bristol) and buildings were even larger than the Exeter Debenhams. That said as you arrive via the hell that is the local bypass, you could be misled into believing that it’s quite a pleasant place – certainly some aspects are beautiful. The steep hills, grand Victorian villas, cedars and palm trees. At the turn of the century it was quite salubrious – but an influx of characterless, commuter entertainers, who infested the local theatres in the 50s and 60s, bought the town to its knees with their mindless, camp dance routines and their endless pantomimes (always featuring some dodgy Northern comic or someone who once appeared as a ventriloquist on ‘Opportunity Knocks’). Bizarrely, people would come from all over the country for cheap holidays or ‘Stag’ and ‘Hen’ weekends and the pubs and clubs would smell of Brut and suntan oil and Bacardi and desperation. They were full of sun-burnt girls - who wanted to be Pepsi or Shirley - but were actually called Bev or Trace from The Wirral (and smelt of Brut and suntan
oil and Bacardi and desperation)…. and their menfolk - gimlet-eyed, aggressive youths in tank-tops and ox-blood Doctor Martens with their cheeky grins and their sexist T-shirts and their grazed knuckles who smelt of Br-(oh, you get the point…) But for all that Devon remains a gorgeous, stunning, wistfully-beautiful place. I still have to fight the urge to beep the car horn when I pass the county sign on the M5. ‘Parcequ’il est vert’ as Belloc put it. Devon is the greenest of green things. Regardless what our Yorkshire chums will have you believe, it truly is God’s Own County. There are some simply breathtaking places;- Watcombe Beach in Torquay, Wistman’s Wood on the Moor, the walk from Salcombe to Bolt Head, Lydford Gorge, Cockington, Lundy…. You take the wonder of Dartmoor and those long summer days on a beach for granted when you’re younger. Somehow, as you grow up it gets traded in for earning a few extra quid, moving to London and living in the Rat Race. Something wrong with the old priorities there. How ironic. As a youngster you dream of leaving the countryside only to spend the rest of your life dreaming of returning to it.
Steve Chew is an author, archaeologist and Head of Content Marketing at Magnificent Stuff Ltd (www.magnificentstuff.net). You can contact him via the website or on 07723 024 865.
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over
ale rem Limesc
in 0 2 . £3 s ’ o c s Te
how soft
are you?
This area is renowned for many things, hard water being one of them!
We see the effects of hard water by the unsightly crusty, chalky deposits on taps and sinks; it’s caused by a concentration of dissolved minerals and as the water evaporates it leaves behind limescale. It builds up on any surface that hard water is in contact with. Damage from hard water is easy to recognise on the things we see but it’s what we can’t see in pipes and inside appliances that cause even bigger and more costly problems.
Having a water softener system installed in your home can help to increase your home’s value as potential buyers feel relieved that they won’t have to deal with the expensive problems hard water causes in the future. Benefits of having a water softener:
running costs • Lower Longer for appliances • Stain freelifespan taps, sinks, and baths • Less spent on cleaningshowers products • Less money spent for detergent and • fabric conditioner
Limescale in your pipes and hot water cylinder will increase your heating costs considerably. Figures show that just ¼” (6mm) of limescale will increase your water heating costs by 50%. Apart from higher running costs, the cost of repair and replacement of damaged plumbing systems is substantial – and that’s without even mentioning the cost of replacing taps, sinks, baths, washing machines and dishwashers. Soft water make appliances last longer by not clogging up heating elements or pipes; washing machines work more efficiently and you use less detergent and fabric conditioner if the water is soft. Clothes also last longer as hard water can often cause fabrics to lose their colour vibrancy and wear out faster. Fact: By stopping the source of limescale which is basically hard water, you save money.
So, the next time you buy a bottle of limescale remover, remember the only thing that it is going to remove is the surface limescale you can see; there is a huge amount more below the surface and that’s what is costing you money! Did you know that by installing a water softener, you can expect immediate improvements in a matter of days and complete descaling of your plumbing in around 6 months?
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Proud to have been serving the local community of Essex since 1888 Providing a choice of funerals and memorials to suit all budgets. Our arrangers can also offer help and advice with pre-paid funeral planning and memorial masonry.
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For details of your local branch or to arrange a home visit please call
01279 813219 www.dcpoulton.co.uk
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Howard Poulton, Funeral Director
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07447 925 521 www.facebook.com/mrs.custom.1
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Where is your child? What are they doing? Who are they talking to? 70% of 11 year olds now have a mobile phone. By age 14 this has risen to 90%. A new generation of phone child safety apps – such as MAMABEAR – now allow you to answer all the above questions. So what can these new “child tracking” apps do? The answer is – there’s not much they can’t: a) You can specify certain map locations – such as your house or your child’s school - and MAMABEAR will text you when your child arrives (or leaves) that location. Or you can track their location on a map. b) It will monitor all of your child’s activity on social media – including pictures – and alert you of bad language or threatening behaviour. c) It will remind your child of after school activities or clubs. d) It will even monitor their driving and alert you if they drive – or are driven - too fast, telling you where and when it happened.
monitoring the effects of mobile phone use on 2,000 11 and 12 year olds. It measured their thinking skills, memory and attention, then will do so again in 2017. Although no harm has ever been proven in the case of adults, current NHS guidelines are that under 16s should only use mobile phones when essential, using a hands free kit. Fortunately most children make few calls, but mainly use the handset as a games console or texting device. And if you do check your teenager’s texts, here is a list of text abbreviations which should ring alarm bells: ASL “Age/Sex/Location?” BRB “Be Right Back” GTG “Got To Go” GYPO “Get Your Pants Off !” IWSN “I Want Sex Now…! LMIRL “Let’s Meet In Real Life” NIFOC “Nude In Front Of Computer” PIR “Parent In Room” POS “Parents Over Shoulder”
Whereas it is useful for parents to have this information in order to protect their children, how safe are mobile phones for children to use? Safety can take many forms. 11-15 year olds are most at risk of being mugged for their handsets, accounting for 500,000 of the 700,000 devices stolen each year. Due to their thinner skulls, mobile phone radiation penetrates deeper into children’s heads than an adult. From Sept 2014, Imperial College London has been
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Ward Unit 2, Bearwalden Business Park, www.kingkleen.co.uk Royston Road, Wendens Ambo, CB11 4JX
Sourcerer Expand Their Magic
To Personalised Holidays
As a sister branch to Sourcerer Business Support, local business woman launches Sourcerer Travel Local business Sourcerer Business Support have been helping businesses out with secretarial and admin duties since 2009. This year, Shelley has branched out to include tailor-made holidays. From personalised honeymoons to business trips, Sourcerer Travel pride themselves on going the extra mile to help buyers find the right holiday for them. Recently, Webcredible conducted a survey into holiday activity which has upped some online travel agents’ ante by reporting that of the 85% of Brits who prefer to booking their holidays online, a huge 60% chose to give up and abandon their purchase and 79% have switched to a different travel provider due to challenges in the website user journey.
the global travel board, what sets them apart from other brands is their focus on providing a unique and personalised service. Entrepreneur Shelley Morris said, “Unlike other travel companies, we are impartial & will strive to find you the best holiday to suit your every desire & budget.” Affiliated with over 450 leading travel companies from Falmouth to Falkirk, families, couples, individuals and companies can benefit from the friendly and professional holiday booking service from the comfort of the home or office. Each professionally trained customer service operator has a helpful, friendly manner when answering queries, as Not Just Travel give advice to maintain high expectations at every step of the journey. Booking a holiday can be an arduous process, whereas using Sourcerer means clients have more time to manage personal or business affairs; and can leave the often time consuming search to the professionals. With consumers being savvier about their purchases and a worldwide recovery from recession on their hands, Sourcerer have picked expert timing to launch their personal and bespoke holiday agency and.
With over 12 million different holidays on offer daily, everything from budget bargains to Millionaire’s retreats can be booked using Shelley’s personal and professional service. Part of the Travel Franchise, the brand new Sourcerer Travel service gives users their own dedicated travel consultant, available to assist, guide & provide expert advice for any adventure. Hertfordshire based, the travel operator offer international holidays flights at reasonable prices to major international destinations spanning the continents of Europe, Australasia, Africa, the Americas, and Asia. As relatively new players on
To find out more information or to look at the fabulous range of destinations Sourcerer offer, see their website at www.sourcerertravel.co.uk. Alternatively, you can contact Shelley Morris on 07816 759 607.
In Partnership with
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Why?
Why? Why Live with your aches and pains? Hazel Williams is one of the few practitioners who specialises in both structural and cranial osteopathy to treat a wide range of patients from babies to the elderly, from the immobile to athletes. Her treatment can help with: back, neck, joint, arthritic and muscle pain, trapped nerves, sports injuries, headaches and migrane. She also incorporates acupuncture to aid pain relief and provides specially formulated pilate classes to help with rehabilitation. Her aim is simple... to give you continual relief from pain wherever possible. To claim your free assessment consultation* please call Hazel at her surgery on:
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*Hazel Williams reserves the right to remove or change this offer at any time without prior notification.
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The origin of popular sayings
By Brenda Burling
we still use today…
I
am a fan of old sayings, though when writing we are encouraged not to use too many as they can be considered a cliché. When you learn their origins however, the fascination increases. Whoever said history was boring?... To be a “June Bride” has its origins from a time where people only tended to take a bath once a year. These baths were taken around May and people considered themselves to be still relatively fresh come June. Brides would carry a bouquet of flowers to help disguise any smell and it’s from there the “Bride’s Bouquet” was born and is a tradition still upheld today. “Piss Poor” this term even today, is often considered a vulgarity yet has a verifiable background. Urine was used to tan hides, although chemicals are often used today, their smell is equally gut-wrenching. A poor family would often use their collective “contributions” to create an income; they would be collected in a pot and taken to the tannery and they would be paid an amount for it. If this was the only source of income for the family you were deemed to be “piss poor”. As for “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water”; when people bathed more often and in a tin bath in front of the fire it was the father who bathed first in the hottest and cleanest water, then followed the other male members of the family and finally down the women and children. By the time it was the youngest members to
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have their turn the water would murky and almost like soup. It does make you wonder how many poor unfortunates found themselves being discarded with the bathing dregs. “Saved by the bell” has more macabre roots. People were sometimes, inadvertently buried alive. With lead contents high in cups and mainly whisky and water being drunk, this often lead to people losing consciousness due to lead poisoning and they were mistakenly considered dead, they would then be buried. This discovery was made at a time when there was a shortage of space to bury people and old coffins were being dug up for the grave to be used again, it was then that scratch marks on the inside of the lids were noticed. The practice then began of people being buried with a long rope being tied around their wrist and threaded through a hole in the coffin; the end would lay on top of the grave with a bell attached. Body snatching and grave robbing was a common occurrence and the folk doing the “graveyard shift” would listen out to hear for the bells ringing, alerting them there had been a mistake. “A Wake” came from around the same time when the body would be laid out on a table and friends and family would visit, eat etc. and wait to see if the body would wake. “Raining cats and dogs” comes from the time when all houses had thatch with no wood beneath and the warmest place for small animals, mice and bugs would be to lay in the
thatch to keep warm. When there was a heavy downpour the thatch would become slippery and they would fall off the roof. “Dirt Poor” came from the fact most people only had dirt floors. Only the wealthy had any other form of flooring, usually slate. This however, would become slippery when wet and they would put down straw (thresh) to help alleviate this. As more and more straw was added, when you opened a door, the thresh would slip out. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance way to combat this, hence the term “threshold”.
“bringing home the bacon”. If you were to have guests visit the bacon would be hung for all to see and chunks were cut off, everybody would sit around, “chewing the fat”. “Upper Crust” is a term given to those of society who are wealthy or privileged. This saying stems from how a loaf would be divided. The top of the loaf, the “upper crust” was saved for the wealthy and most prosperous, the middle would be for family and the workers received the burnt, bottom part of the loaf.
Most people had a diet of mainly vegetables, a stew, in a huge pot that was added to daily. This gave rise to the rhyme “Pease Pudding hot, Pease Pudding cold, Pease Pudding in the pot, nine days old.” Pork was considered a luxury but if a family was lucky enough to have a man who provided bacon it was seen as a sign of wealth and prosperity and was often saved for special occasions. This brought about the term
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[t]
020 8281 5352 07588 687 034 [m]
Looking for an extra income? – look no further! We are looking for Self-motivated individuals/couples with a desire to exceed their current salary.
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Cloud Nine: From the original founder of GHD, Cloud Nine brings you the latest in hair straightening innovation. Each of the irons features intelligent temperature control technology to give you a sleek, shiny finish and kinder styling. The signature mineral infused ceramic plates will leave a healthy finish whilst the 360 degrees swivel cord allows ultimate hair freedom to create a range of styles. Wave wands also available at Patrick zoe dee
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Crossword Clues Clues Across
1 Indicator, meter (5) 4 Artist’s stand (5) 7 Not fit for purpose (8) 8 Back, behind (4) 9 Territory (8) 11 Highest point, peak (4) 12 Middle (6) 14 Yield (6) 16 Golf club (4) 18 Concepts, proposals (8) 20 Cab (4) 21 Muse, ponder (8) 23 Musical or colour harmony (5) 24 Layers (5)
Clues Down 1 2 3 4 5 6
Real, true (7) Overturn (5) Fade, wane (3) Conductor, terminal (9) Attendant, minion (7) Depart (5)
10 Indistinguishable (9) 13 Strain, stress (7) 15 Ineffectual, futile (7) 17 Respond, reply (5) 19 Lift, elevate (5) 22 Enmesh, nab (3)
Alice In Wonderland Word Search List Apple Apricot Avocado Banana Berry Cherry Citron Citrus Coconut Current Date Durian Fig Grape Guava Kiwi Kumquat
Lemon Lime Loquat Lychee Mango Melon Orange Papaya Passion Fruit Peach Pear Plum Pluot Pomelo Prune Quince Raisin
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Pawley & Malyon Chartered Accountant Welcome to Pawley & Malyon Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors. In today’s ever changing world, clients need to be confident their affairs are in good hands. At Pawley & Malyon this confidence is gained by our personal approach to your finances and from the results achieved by our advice and recommendations.
ABOUT US
We provide a complete range of accountancy services and have a broad range of clients, both corporate and personal, located throughout the UK. As we are a small firm we strive to offer you a high level of personal service so often lacking in business these days. Whether you are a commercial business, or a non profit’ organisation or an individual, we pride ourselves in always offering you a personal, efficient and professional service. Please contact us on 020 7065 6870 to arrange a free, informal and no obligation initial Meeting.
We are not just a London office we see clients locally Registered to carry on audit work and regulated for a range of investment business activities by The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
AUDITING ACCOUNTING COMPANY SECRETARIAL TAXATION ADVICE BUSINESS PLANNING SERVICE PAYROLL
Call: 020 7065 6870 London Office: 14 Austin Friars, London, EC2N 2HE
The value of a good
accountant Around a year ago at the 2014 Budget the Government announced that they would be implementing a review of employee benefits and expenses with a view to simplifying these and also reflecting the changes in working patterns in the years since these rules were initially introduced. As this review is still ongoing no comment was made in the 2015 Budget but later in the year the Government may issue some consultation for employers to respond to. Two areas that are not really covered by the current rules are the increase in temporary labour contracts and also in the number of people regularly working from home. To demonstrate how long the current rules have been in existence Forms P11D were originally required for Directors and higher paid employees earning over £8,500 per annum. The limit has never been increased and so in practice a Form P11D is generally required after each tax year for any employee paid any expenses or benefits unless a dispensation from completing these is in place with HMRC. The general principle for claiming travel and subsistence expenses is that home to main office regular commuting is never allowable but if you are required to visit clients, attend courses, etc at a different location then any additional travel costs that you incur will be allowable. This could be in the form of reimbursement of fares or in claiming a mileage rate of 45p for the 1st 10,000 miles in a tax year and then 25p per mile thereafter. This is to all costs of using the car for work purposes including fuel with the exception of parking or toll costs which can be claimed in addition. If you are required to stay overnight then the costs of the hotel are also allowable while if you are working outside your usual working hours because you are travelling then you may also claim subsistence costs for meals. In certain circumstances at present temporary workers who are based (or expect to be based) at a site for less than 24 months may claim travel costs but as mentioned in the opening paragraph these rules are currently under review. Next month Budget 2015.
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www.acbuildingsolutions.co.uk