International Trade

Importing problems on the horizon

for 1st July #GetBusinessDone Is there a huge headache for UK importers on the horizon with Postponed VAT, Duties and Declarations delayed until 1st July?

International Trade Specialist, Frances Fawcett works with importers and exporters and there is cause for concern. Here, she explains why. The story so far… The impact of Brexit and the end of the transition period on 31st December has been widely felt and widely reported. Many of the niggles and challenges that we all saw in January have calmed down and goods are flowing more smoothly. It has taken some time, it has taken all parties getting to grips with new processes and, unfortunately, led to some businesses discovering new costs to doing business with EU suppliers and customers. Some of these are direct costs, other costs are in terms of time and administration. However, most regular exporters will probably have reached an understanding of the processes that are now required.

I’d like to say that importers have reached the same clarity, but I fear not.

This is because, whether they realise it or not, they haven’t been as exposed to some of the realities because of schemes in place to make things easier. Naturally we welcome these schemes, but they can sometimes leave things hidden and it’s critical that importers are aware. Delayed import declarations What is it? Recognising that considerable changes might be needed post-Brexit and the end of the transition period, HMRC announced that importers could defer import declarations. All goods coming into the UK from overseas must enter the country with an import declaration. This was already the case for imports from outside of the EU and it is now also true for imports from the EU from 1st January 2021.

In July of last year (2020), HMRC announced that UK importers could defer declarations until 1st July 2021.

This was welcome news and offered a period of 6 months before declarations would be required

However, traders are obliged to record goods in their own records so they can provided the information to HMRC later.

There is also an obligation to account for duties and VAT, but more on that later. What do I need to do about it? For all goods that you have imported from the EU since 1st January 2021: 1. Has an import declaration been completed? • Transporters sometimes submit declarations if asked as part of the service they provide so you will need to find out if this was the case. If no one asked them to, they almost certainly didn’t. If an import declaration hasn’t been completed, ensure you have all the records you need about the goods you have imported. 2. Was the import declaration correct? • You must check information such as goods value, Commodity Codes and

Country of Origin because these are used to calculate the import fees due, and you will want them to be calculated accurately. • It is possible to submit your own declarations, but most businesses use someone else to deal with customs for them. Customs Agents are extremely busy post-Brexit but fortunately this is a service provided by most Chambers of Commerce, so you may wish to start there. Duties What do I need to do about it? For all goods that you have imported from the EU since 1st January 2021: 1. Check that you know the Country of Origin of the goods you have purchased. • Your suppliers should include this on their invoices, but you must check. Not all EU businesses were ready for the end of the transition period so may not have updated their documents. 2. You will also need to know the Commodity Code of the goods that you have imported. • Again, you can check your supplier invoices, but you will also need to satisfy yourself that, if a Commodity Code is given, it is accurate. • If none is given, you will need to determine the codes using the UK Trade Tariff. 3. If you do discover that you now have duties to pay, consider opening a Duty Deferment Account with HMRC. • Opening an account is free of charge and cheaper than using a transporters deferment account as no fees apply. Postponed VAT Accounting What do I need to do about it? For all goods that you have imported from the EU since 1st January 2021: 1. Use the Commodity Code to verify whether import VAT applies. • It does apply to most goods at 20%. 2. Access your Postponed VAT import statement. • You will need your normal Government

Gateway user ID. • Statements show postponed VAT unless customs declarations were delayed. • Note that statements are only available for 6 months – make sure you download and retain them! Import VAT payable in the UK can be recovered by VAT registered businesses so although there is an administrative process here, there may not be a cost to your business. Do you know if a declaration has been made on your import? The Incoterms® rule determines whether you (the importer/buyer) or your supplier (the seller) are responsible for import procedures when goods arrive in the UK. Any rule other than DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) means that you, the buyer, are responsible. So, unless you are buying under DDP, you will need to make sure an import declaration is made.

I recently met a business with an EU supplier taking care of the whole shipment to their door, so they assumed that included the import declaration. The Incoterm® rule quoted was EXW which is not suitable for an international trade transaction and clearly wasn’t the correct rule as the buyer had organised none of the shipment. They therefore had no idea whether an import declaration had been completed and could probably assume it hadn’t. Could import VAT be sitting waiting to be included on your next VAT return without you realising? PVA works so seamlessly that many transporters are assuming traders are using it – why wouldn’t they? There could, therefore, be a host of transactions sitting on a monthly statement that you didn’t even know existed.

But surely someone will be catching this as the goods cross the border into the UK?

This is a very dangerous assumption and I have seen enough to know that isn’t the case. The UK has taken a “low touch” approach to ease the changes faced by businesses after the end of the transition period. That means that just because the goods have arrived as expected, you cannot assume that all the correct processes were followed.

FOCUS ON education

with Weymouth College

Pre Covid 19 - it was estimated that nearly 70 million days were lost each year to staff absence caused by stress, depression and anxiety - costing the UK economy in excess of £70 billion per year.

Given the measures the Government has taken recently – lockdowns, work from home, furlough, social distancing - it seems that the mental health impact upon employees in all sectors has been potentially brutal and remains long lasting. Around 1 in 5 (21%) adults experienced some form of depression in early 2021; this is more than double that observed before the pandemic (10%) (ONS).

With the ongoing impact of COVID-19 yet to be fully understood by business leaders, utilising training to ensure staff have adequate support for their mental health and wellbeing would seem both time critical and of vital importance. 60% of employees say they’d feel more motivated and likely to recommend their organisation as a good place to work if positive action was taken to support mental health and wellbeing.

Investing in a fully supportive and comprehensive mental health support network for staff can also help to reduce staff turnover, sickness absence and presenteeism – a cost in underperformance estimated at around £605 per employee.

At Weymouth College we work closely with Public Health Dorset – as a preferred training provider – to deliver Mental Health First Aid for Adults to a wide range of businesses and employers across Dorset, and will be adding Mental Health First Aid for Youth to our training portfolio in the coming weeks.

We have a team of 16+ trained Mental Health First Aiders onsite to listen to, reassure and support staff and adult learners across campus and we provide our staff with an accessible programme of wellbeing days, free fitness activities and supportive mental health and wellbeing newsletters. Talk to us if you would like to find out more about Mental Health First Aid training at Weymouth College.

Visit: www.weymouth.ac.uk/ employerservices/ Email: employerservices@weymouth.ac.uk Call: 01305 208709

OnBuy delivers a little magic to the homes of vulnerable children with a magic show and DIY gift sets

Dorset-based OnBuy.com has spread a little magic to The Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity by donating a total of 100 magic trick kits to families the Trust cares for. On delivery of the kits a magician performed a virtual magic show for the whole family to attend.

The Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity provides emotional and practical support to families who have a child with a life-threatening or terminal illness, and the magic kits were distributed to families under the Trust’s care in Dorset and Hampshire as well as in the northwest of England – the respective birthplaces of OnBuy and its CEO, Cas Paton. These regions provided OnBuy with a perfect opportunity to give back to the local communities it’s connected with.

Cas Paton, founder and CEO of OnBuy, said: “The past year and a half has been challenging to say the least, so we jumped at the chance to bring a touch of magic to families that need it most. With millions of products at our fingertips, we were inclined to support local families in a unique and interesting way. The donation of these kits, along with the show from a Dorset-based magician, gave us that opportunity and the morning of wizardry and illusion certainly brought a smile to both the kids’ and parents’ faces! ”

The families under Rainbow Trust’s care have predominantly been shielding throughout the pandemic due to the complex conditions of their children, so a magic show was hosted over Zoom to bring the experience to the comfort of their homes and to ensure all families in both areas were able to take part. The show took place in the OnBuy offices based in Poole on Saturday 19th June.

To donate to Rainbow Trust, please visit www.rainbowtrust.org.uk/donate

New type of bugs found in gardens

The move to home working in garden offices is creating major security risks, according to a leading cyber security company.

C3IA Solutions, which is headquartered in Poole, Dorset, said business rivals can more easily insert listening devices into these remote spaces.

While conducting sweeps in clients’ homes they became aware that outside garden offices had not been captured in the scope of work.

Initially during lockdowns, the major cyber threat was because company computers had been taken from offices and their security not necessarily reconfigured for homeworking, leaving them open to hackers.

Now, with many companies abandoning offices and moving permanently to remote working, new risks are presenting themselves.

A survey by Moneypenny has shown that around four per cent of home workers do so from garden offices, which is tens of thousands of people.

This figure is only growing, with shed providers reporting a huge increase in orders as people prepare to work from home full time.

Matt Horan, co-founder of C3IA Solutions, said: “Sometimes people are more relaxed about security at home than they are in the office because they are always there.

“But garden offices do present increased risks. Firstly the physical security can be weak. They are often made of wood and can be broken into easily.

“They can be located in the garden away from the householders and often not covered by the home’s security systems or CCTV.

“Conversations inside them can be easily overheard, and it is simple to plant listening devices.

“The surveillance devices are extremely cheap, small and powerful and you’d be surprised how easy it is to plan them.

“Usually we carry out Technical Surveillance Counter Measures in large office blocks and on superyachts – and we work all over the world.

“Many of our staff are ex-military and have high levels of security clearance so we work in some sensitive locations.

“But this type of bug-sweeping work is becoming more common in business and the move to home offices is seeing us push to get these outbuildings captured in our scope of work to mitigate the risks to our clients.

“We are able to survey the entire security and advise on how to reduce threats – and a surveillance sweep takes a short time in a singleroom environment.

“Those who have called us in suspect that private conversations or information has leaked and want to make sure it never happens again.

“Planting listening devices sounds a bit like something from a film, but it is very now tempting in business as a way to gain extremely valuable information for little cost and risk.” www.c3ia.co.uk

New campaign “Light On” shines a light on mental health across Dorset

Light On is a life-changing campaign launching across Dorset to tackle the stigma of talking about mental distress and emotional struggle – particularly among men.

A network of organisations including local businesses, the public sector, and charities including Dorset Mind have joined forces to build mental wellbeing together and put an end to men dealing with mental health difficulties alone. Light On urges men to go beyond banter and talk openly about how they are feeling and whether they are coping. It aims to train champions and ambassadors to spread this message across the whole of Dorset reaching men where they work, exercise, socialise and live.

Local businesses will be encouraged to join the campaign as it gains momentum to share the message to ‘turn your light on’ and give permission to someone to have a conversation about mental health.

Andrew Coleman, founder of Light On says, “It is time to put an end to the silent struggle among men because of the stigma about talking when you’re not coping very well. This silence is leading to pain, suffering and suicide - and it has to stop. This campaign will save people’s lives because it will make it OK for people to have a conversation and ask for help. It will transform the way Dorset people, men in particular; deal with mental health and mental health difficulty. We want as many people as possible to share our message and to get involved. We want thousands of people to ‘turn their Light on’ with us.”

Andy is one of a group of men who met through local charity Dorset Mind and wanted to do more to help other men who may be struggling. All these men have personal experience of the difficulties and damage caused by mental health problems, with many of them losing friends or colleagues to suicide.

Ty Temel, Owner of Halo Bournemouth comments, “A year ago we started talking about how we could stop this wave of distress amongst men in Dorset that is leading some to take their own lives. It’s great that this campaign coming to fruition – as the start of a larger piece of work. There are so many of us who have lain awake at 3am wondering how much longer we can cope and not knowing where to turn. We wanted to create a campaign that showed people that it’s OK to talk, it’s OK to say you’re not coping well and it’s OK to get help.”

The Light On strategy was built using panels of men across Dorset who came together to share how they felt. They helped to shape the campaign’s focus on making sure that men knew how to talk as well as when to talk. Training and workshops will be offered in later phases of the campaign. Importantly, they will be encouraged to have courageous conversations that go beyond everyday banter.

Marianne Storey, CEO at Dorset Mind says, “This is such a vital campaign for people in Dorset, particularly at this time as we recover from the Covid19 pandemic. Even more people than ever are struggling with mental distress and it is essential that we create a county that is open and compassionate about talking about it. I believe that Light On is going to save lives. If enough people get involved and turn their ‘Lights On’ then more people can come forward and ask for help. And if we all play our own vital role in this campaign then we can all contribute to preventing distress and ultimately suicide. We must not give up until everyone has the help they need.”

A survey is being carried out by Bournemouth University to find out what men in Dorset feel about their mental health - and what might be stopping them seeking help.

The findings will be used to help the Light On team further develop their campaign. It’s set to run for 5 years across Dorset and is expected to reach hundreds of thousands of people. Local businesses such as Osprey, AFC Bournemouth and BCP and Dorset Councils are already on board and the organisers are expecting many more to sign up online as word spreads across the county.

www.lightonmh.uk

#GetBusinessDone

FOCUS ON recruitment

with Mploy Staffing Solutions

Pressure on Pay Rates

Recruitment is back with a bang! After over a year of relative inactivity, the gradual easing of lockdown has brought greater certainty across the local business community, and it seems everyone is in the mood for recruiting.

This is great news and proves that the economy is finally on the path to recovery; however contrary to popular belief the available candidate market across all sectors is as tight as I have known in over 20 years in recruitment and this is making recruitment challenging to say the least, and we as recruiters are having to find new and innovative solutions and investing in additional resources.

Every day for the last few months I have been having conversations with existing and prospective clients about recruitment plans, and I have been working hard to dispel the myth that there are great candidates on the market who are desperate to take opportunities for low pay rates.

The good news is there are still candidates out there looking for work, but it is a sellers’ market, and to attract these people we are going to have to come up with standout product offerings in terms of pay rates!! With the annual Christmas recruitment drive just around the corner, those that choose not to will be left behind

Only time will tell if this shortage of staff can be attributed to the furlough scheme, 12-months of lockdown or post-Brexit Britain; irrespective of the reasons why, the fine art of recruitment is as challenging as ever for companies and agencies alike and this is placing ‘Pressure on Pay Rates’ more than ever before.

Jon Raine 01305 213883 www.mploystaff.com

MoreBus named a ‘European Climate Leader’ for progress in cutting carbon emissions

Go-Ahead Group features on Financial Times’ European Climate Leaders list 2021

The group has cut carbon emissions by 7.5% annually per €1 million of revenue

MoreBus part of the The Go-Ahead Group has been named a ‘European Climate Leader’ by the Financial Times for its carbon cutting initiatives.

The FT gathered data on more than 4,000 European companies. The top 300 ‘Climate Leaders’ achieved the greatest reduction in greenhouse gas emission intensity between 2014-2019, measured according to tonnes of carbon emissions per €1 million of revenue.

The figures show that Go-Ahead cut its emissions intensity by 7.5% every year from 2014-2019. This has also over a period of significant international growth, with the company beginning operations in Germany, Ireland and Norway, as well as expanding in the UK. The group is one of only two bus and rail operators in Europe to make the list.

Go-Ahead is the largest electric bus provider in the UK and has committed to run a zeroemission bus fleet by 2035.

In addition, all Go-Ahead’s UK premises – including rail stations and bus depots – are powered by renewable electricity such as solar, wind and hydro power.

All companies on the shortlist had to have a CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) rating of at least ‘B minus’. Go-Ahead received ‘A minus’ rating in 2021, its highest ever accreditation, and the highest score of any transport operator in the UK.

The Group has pioneered other innovative technology, such as air filtering buses, which clean particulate matter from the air, and geofenced buses that automatically switch to zeroemission in city centre areas with poor air quality.

Katy Taylor, Go-Ahead’s Chief Customer & Strategy Officer said: “We’re pleased that GoAhead has been recognised for cutting carbon emissions. We will continue to ensure our buses, trains, depots and assets are as sustainable as possible – for the good of the planet and our passengers.”

“However, we can all play our part in helping reduce emissions further. We need people to switch their journeys away from the car and to choose walking, cycling and public transport instead. That will have the biggest impact on reducing the UK’s overall carbon emissions.”

MoreBus, part of the Go-Ahead Group is the largest electric bus provider in the UK and has committed to run a zero-emission bus fleet by 2035

BOFA takes intelligence to new level in the laser market

BOFA International, a global leader in portable fume and particulate extraction technology, has launched its latest generation intelligent operating system – iQ2. The platform, available on BOFA’s best-in-class AD Oracle laser industry system, features a host of functionality enhancements and innovations, including extended onboard data logs and realtime system condition visualisation. iQ2 also supports a colour touchscreen user interface, smart alarm configuration and remote system upgrades.

BOFA’s portable technology plays a critical role in high volume laser coding and marking productivity as well as precision engraving processes, by removing potentially harmful airborne contaminants from work environments and keeping high performance equipment free from particulate.

Haydn Knight, Sales and Marketing Director at BOFA, said the innovations and enhancements available via the AD Oracle iQ2 strengthen the company’s global market position.

He commented: “Speed, efficiency and quality are key drivers in high volume manufacturing, particularly in the laser sector, so iQ2 has been designed to deliver in these areas through better data for analytics, smart alarm integration and easy access to real-time whole system monitoring.

“This new and enhanced functionality will provide users with better information on live extraction performance and enable smarter decisions to be taken covering filter exchanges and maintenance regimes. Taken together, these features will be invaluable in mitigating the risk of unplanned downtime.” The AD Oracle iQ2 innovations include: • Visual overview of whole system status in real-time, through a display showing pressure flows and individual filter performance. This helps guide filter exchange schedules to maintain optimal uptime. • Up to 12 months’ onboard data for better analytics covering filter profile and diagnostics, helping inform production schedules and planned maintenance. • Remote USB configuration updates, enabling multi-site, common system deployment. • New colour touchscreen with multi-language capability and SmartNAV layout and icons for convenient condition monitoring and filter checks. • Configurable alarm handling, enabling alerts grouping and integration with existing factory manufacturing processes. • Future-proofed interfaces, ready for system expansion. The AD Oracle iQ2 has three-stage filtration to ensure that clean air is maintained in the workplace throughout laser operations. This consists of a patented DeepPleat DUO pre-filter to remove larger particulate; a HEPA filter to remove 99.997% of particles at 0.3 micron in size; and advanced carbon filter technology for the safe capture and removal of hazardous fumes. www.bofainternational.com