HAINES WATTS DRIVES DEFENSIVE COMPANIES INTO BUSINESS ATTACK.

HAINES WATTS

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

MANCHESTER AND PRESTON

PRESS RELEASE

November 25, 2010.

HAINES WATTS DRIVES DEFENSIVE COMPANIES INTO BUSINESS ATTACK.

North West owner managers have been so busy defending and protecting their businesses that many have taken their eye off the growth and development ball.

Manchester and Preston-based Haines Watts chartered accountants has responded by developing a series of seminars aimed at helping put businesses on the attack.

Called “Rise”, the seminars will cover key areas relating to the growth and development of owner-managed businesses. They’ll take place throughout January and February 2011.

David Fort of Haines Watts said: “Owner-managed businesses tell us the biggest challenge they face is achieving and sustaining business growth.

“Being an owner manager or managing director of your company can be a lonely place when trying to make that step change in your organisation.

“The people around you often don’t have the necessary knowledge, skills or experience to help you through this process. The seminar series is designed for people in just that position who are looking to grow their business.”

Consisting of six high-impact breakfast sessions that will provide focused information and cut through the woffle, elements include creating, retaining and extracting personal and family wealth in line with aspirations; sustaining growth against increasingly stiff competition in a changing market; leading the business in the right direction while reducing business and personal risks; recruiting, motivating and retaining the right people and exiting the wrong ones with low risk; establishing and maintaining effective and appropriate funding arrangements; providing the right operations and facilities to support the business without breaking the bank.

Key features of the events include access to experts in business growth acceleration, and are held in  a confidential environment in short sessions with practical not theoretical content in a discussion rather than lecturing environment.

Haines Watts is a UK top 20 chartered accountancy firm specialising in the owner-managed sector, providing a broad range of services out of its 50 offices. The firm has 80 years experience and 30,000 clients.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

07788 978800

www.hwca.com

http://www.hwca.com/offices/accountants-north-west.php

NORTH WEST SMALL BUSINESS FIVE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO CONSULT PEERS THAN BANK

HAINES WATTS

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

PRESS RELEASE

September 16, 2010.

NORTH WEST SMALL BUSINESS FIVE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO CONSULT PEERS THAN BANK.

Video here.

Photos here.

Only around a tenth of North West small business owners would consult their banks when making an investment or “sense checking” business decisions, with more than half saying they’d speak with their peers instead.

That’s one of several surprising findings from a survey by UK top-20 accountants Haines Watts that indicates there’s a new financial world order when it comes to who owner-managers rely upon for business advice.

Peers are most likely to be consulted (53%), followed by accountants (49%), friends and family (22%), banks, (10%) management consultants (4.5%) and lawyers (4%).

“The banks used to have a vast range of experience with some of their managers, and businesses obviously relied upon that. But some of those experienced people have been lost from the system, and they seem to be heading for a more risk-averse approach, and the link between bank and customers seems to have gone,” said David Fort, partner at UK top 20 chartered accountancy firm Haines Watts in Manchester and Preston. (Watch video interview)

“There are now two key groups that business owners consult: one is their peers – they look for advice and ideas from other business men – and the other is accountants, like us, who understand their business and can be relied upon to give an external view.

“Historically, small business relied upon bank managers, but in recent times there’s been a growing concern that banks have become more systemised and are losing that contact with their clients.”

The survey indicates that lawyers have lost their one-time role as trusted business advisers, with just 3.97% of business owners saying they would go to them to benchmark or “sense check” business decisions.

Small owner-managed businesses are the powerhouse of the UK economy: of the 4.7 million businesses in the UK, 99.3% are small firms with fewer than 50 employees.

Of the 8,700 owner-managed businesses invited to take the Haines Watts Business Owner Survey, 645 responded giving a response rate of 7.4%. A selection of business owners were further invited to take part in in-depth interviews.

Haines Watts is a UK top 20 chartered accountancy firm specialising in the owner-managed sector, providing a broad range of services out of its 50 offices. The firm has 80 years experience and 30,000 clients.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

07788 978800

www.hwca.com

http://www.hwca.com/offices/accountants-north-west.php

WE NEED MORE NORTH WEST STREET-SAVVY RISK TAKERS, NOT OVER-FORMULATED BUSINESS EDUCATION, SAYS ACCOUNTANT.

HAINES WATTS

PRESS RELEASE

July 26, 2010.

WE NEED MORE NORTH WEST STREET-SAVVY RISK TAKERS, NOT OVER-FORMULATED BUSINESS EDUCATION, SAYS ACCOUNTANT.

Video here.

Photos here.

Business needs more “street-savvy” risk-taking entrepreneurs to counter the massive rise in the number of graduates who have a formulated view of how to run a business.

David Fort, partner at UK top 20 chartered accountancy firm Haines Watts in Manchester and Preston, says business education training and funding should be switched from the public sector and into the hands of the employers (Watch video).

“In a Haines Watts survey of business owners, a common comment was ‘a degree does not a businessman make’. Businesses and the private sector need to develop education and training programmes which are not just specific to the skills they require, but also reflect the culture of that business,” he said.

“Accountants may have a reputation as being amongst the most risk-averse of professionals, but our view is that the North West needs more risk-takers – but harnessed and guided by private sector-run training to channel that raw commercial talent.

“More people than ever are going on to higher education, but people coming out of university are arriving in the jobs market with a much more formulated and samey structure in terms of their attitude to business,” he said.

“The rapid expansion in the numbers going through higher education may be good for the UK’s professions, but the owner-managed business sector is not seeing the benefits of the investment. Frankly, not many graduates are emerging as potential business leaders and owners. I question whether higher education is actually preparing graduates for the world of work.

“Our survey showed that a third of current North West business owners left school at 16, a further 22% with qualifications no higher than A-level; those who left school at 16 got out into the real world, taking risks, employing people – this is how we ended up in the UK with the likes of Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, John Caudwell and so on.

“Small owner-managed businesses are the powerhouse of the UK economy: of the 4.7 million businesses in the UK, 99.3% are small firms with fewer than 50 employees, yet most business training seems to be more about how to play a management role in steadying or maintaining the course of business monoliths rather than creating business and jobs through raw ambition and risk-taking,” said David Fort.

Of the 8,700 businesses invited to take the Haines Watts Business Owner Survey, 645 responded giving a response rate of 7.4%. A selection of business owners were further invited to take part in in-depth interviews.

Haines Watts is a UK top 20 chartered accountancy firm specialising in the owner-managed sector, providing a broad range of services out of its 50 offices. The firm has 80 years experience and 30,000 clients.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

07788 978800

www.hwca.com

http://www.hwca.com/offices/accountants-north-west.php

NORTH WEST BUSINESS OWNERS MORE LIKELY TO BE ASKED FOR PERSONAL GUARANTEES

HAINES WATTS

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

PRESS RELEASE

July 12, 2010.

NORTH WEST BUSINESS OWNERS MORE LIKELY TO BE ASKED FOR PERSONAL GUARANTEES.

Watch video.

One in three North West business owners are being asked by banks to provide personal guarantees to support their companies - higher than the UK average, and more than twice as many as in the East Midlands.

Chartered accountants Haines Watts surveyed 8,700 owner-managed businesses, and, from the responses received, found that 31.63% of company owners in the North West region had been asked by their banks to provide personal guarantees compared to 15.38% in the East Midlands, just over 17% in Scotland, 21.74% in the South East and 24.77% in the West Midlands. The national average is 25%.

“Small owner-managed businesses are the powerhouse of the UK economy: of the 4.7 million businesses in the UK, 99.3% are small firms with fewer than 50 employees, yet they feel they’re being forced to drive round with the handbrake on,” said David Fort, a Partner with Haines Watts Manchester. (Watch video, 1 min 36 secs.)

“People in business need access to finance, the banks have got to release the purse strings; 31% of business owners in the North West say they’ve been asked to provide personal guarantees, which is far higher than just about anywhere else in the country.”

But despite that handicap, David Fort says the signs are that the North West region is amongst the best placed in the UK to drive recovery.

“The North West is actually ideally placed; it has fantastic businesses, fantastic business leaders and a great workforce,” he said.

“But we do need more support from a government which should be looking at more ways of backing businesses, particularly with regard to releasing funding, taxation and how tax changes might give businesses an extra incentive to grow.

“On a basic level, we also have an excellent education system in the North West, it creates useful workers, but some graduates come out of university without the basic skills business requires, so companies should be encouraged to train their own staff so they gain relevant skills.”

Of the 8,700 businesses invited to take the Haines Watts Business Owner Survey, 645 responded giving a response rate of 7.4%. A selection of business owners were further invited to take part in in-depth interviews.

Haines Watts is a UK top 20 chartered accountancy firm specialising in the owner-managed sector, providing a broad range of services out of its 50 offices. The firm has 80 years experience and 30,000 clients.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

07788 978800

www.hwca.com

PRESTON ACCOUNTANT: NORTH WEST BUSINESS OWNERS MORE LIKELY TO BE ASKED FOR PERSONAL GUARANTEES

HAINES WATTS

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

PRESS RELEASE

July 12, 2010.

PRESTON ACCOUNTANT: NORTH WEST BUSINESS OWNERS MORE LIKELY TO BE ASKED FOR PERSONAL GUARANTEES.

Watch video.

One in three North West business owners are being asked by banks to provide personal guarantees to support their companies - higher than the UK average, and more than twice as many as in the East Midlands.

Chartered accountants Haines Watts, with offices in Preston, surveyed 8,700 owner-managed businesses, and, from the responses received, found that 31.63% of company owners in the North West region had been asked by their banks to provide personal guarantees compared to 15.38% in the East Midlands, just over 17% in Scotland, 21.74% in the South East and 24.77% in the West Midlands. The national average is 25%.

“Small owner-managed businesses are the powerhouse of the UK economy: of the 4.7 million businesses in the UK, 99.3% are small firms with fewer than 50 employees, yet they feel they’re being forced to drive round with the handbrake on,” said David Fort, a Partner with Haines Watts Preston. (Watch video, 1 min 36 secs.)

“People in business need access to finance, the banks have got to release the purse strings; 31% of business owners in the North West say they’ve been asked to provide personal guarantees, which is far higher than just about anywhere else in the country.”

But despite that handicap, David Fort says the signs are that the North West region is amongst the best placed in the UK to drive recovery.

“The North West is actually ideally placed; it has fantastic businesses, fantastic business leaders and a great workforce,” he said.

“But we do need more support from a government which should be looking at more ways of backing businesses, particularly with regard to releasing funding, taxation and how tax changes might give businesses an extra incentive to grow.

“On a basic level, we also have an excellent education system in the North West, it creates useful workers, but some graduates come out of university without the basic skills business requires, so companies should be encouraged to train their own staff so they gain relevant skills.”

Of the 8,700 businesses invited to take the Haines Watts Business Owner Survey, 645 responded giving a response rate of 7.4%. A selection of business owners were further invited to take part in in-depth interviews.

Haines Watts is a UK top 20 chartered accountancy firm specialising in the owner-managed sector, providing a broad range of services out of its 50 offices. The firm has 80 years experience and 30,000 clients.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

07788 978800

www.hwca.com