Insight

Kevin Ellis, the UK chair and senior partner at Big Four firm PwC UK, has said that criticism of the accountancy sector from MPs and regulators is hindering the sector's ability to recruit new staff. In an interview with the Financial Times in late December, Mr Ellis highlighted that retaining quali

Kevin Hollister, founder of pension calculator site Guiide, discusses pension freedoms and how they can work better for the everyday person. Pension freedoms have been around for more than five years. So far, the pension industry has been slow to respond to people’s needs in retirement

Operators of furnished holiday lettings businesses will have been affected by restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, but all is not necessarily lost, according to Jenny Healy. The pandemic has clearly impacted the UK’s tourism sector heavily, including many Furnished Holiday Let (FHL) busi

James McMillan, director at law firm Anderson Strathern, warns that Scotland has become an international hotspot for financial crime. In the UK context when you think about white-collar crime over the last couple of decades, names like Barings Bank, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCC

Susan Love, strategic engagement lead at ACCA Scotland, writes on the need to support SMEs ahead of this week's Scottish budget announcement. Scotland’s small businesses and those that will consider Scotland as their destination need the right support to navigate the challenges and opportuniti

Andrew Fraser, head of research, financials and fixed income at abrdn, discusses how banks could direct their lending to reverse climate change. “They talk, but they don’t do,” this is how the Queen expressed her frustration with world leaders on the eve of COP26. The same accusati

Neil Bradbrook, managing director of Ahead Business Consulting, details why businesses need to start planning now to reduce their carbon footprint. As the dust settles on COP26, which rather predictably failed to fulfil hopes and promises, the obvious question is: what next?

Donald Boyd, head of growth at accountancy firm Azets, is urging businesses to embrace and implement Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies or risk losing their sources of funding. Climate change and ESG is already starting to have a significant impact on funding decisions and director

Helen Mill, Aberdeen-based business coach & facilitator at The Alternative Board (TAB), offers advice to all businesses on how to tackle the challenges ahead. Firstly, congratulations – you’ve made it through the pandemic lockdowns. Maybe you’ve pivoted your business and advanc

Ian McMonagle, a chartered tax adviser who sits on the Scottish Committee of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, and taxation director at Russell & Russell, business advisers, warns of the tax implications of using a garden shed as a home office. Amongst millions of people throughout the UK, WF

Anthony Zdanowicz, an associate at DM Hall in Ayr, considers the commercial property market in Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, and Dumfries and Galloway. In the historic Scottish fiefdoms of Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway in which I operate, the commercial property environment is rich and di

Derek Gemmell, partner and head of innovations tax at Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB), discusses the complications arising from R&D tax relief. Following recent consultation on changes to categories of Research and Development (R&D) expenditure that will align the availability of R&D

David Thomson, chief investment officer at VWM Wealth, details the fundamentals of ESG investing. With COP26 in full swing, the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) theme sweeping the investment community could not be more topical.

When I first took on a mortgage, the rate of interest was 6% pa. Many will remember mortgage rates as high as 18% pa in the early 1980s. To an entire generation of homeowners however such rates are unheard of and have never been within their contemplation. Many will have taken out mortgages in the c

In a bid to raise awareness of businesses that have flouted the law and deliberately paid their employees less than the statutory National Minimum Wage (NMW) – which is due to rise further from April 2022 – HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) recently issued a press release listing the most