The Business Godparent

The Business Godparent is a publication that aims to provide business owners with valuable updates, useful tips, guidance on technology, and friendly support.

Issue 22 - Winter 2025

Red Sofa Interviews

James Rowell on The Red Sofa

James Rowell from Advent Management joins us on The Red Sofa

Top Tips

Tips to Make Your Small Business a Success in 2025

When starting out, knowing where to focus to make your small business a success can be difficult.
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Insights

Digital Marketing Trends for 2025 – Don’t Get Left Behind!

With the amount of digital noise in various industries, how can we stay on top of digital marketing trends in 2025?
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Business

Building a Legacy: Why Family Business Must Lead on Sustainability

For generations, family businesses have been the backbone of the UK economy.
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HR

Employment Law – Changes to the Employment Rights Bill

Part of the Labour Party’s manifesto was about significant change they wanted to make to employment law.
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View all posts in Issue 22 - Winter 2025

Issue 21 - Autumn 2024

Red Sofa Interviews

Tom Guthrie on The Red Sofa

Tom Guthrie from BRI joins us on The Red Sofa

From the Business Godparent

Celebrating a Decade of Business Finance Partnerships

This year marks a decade of Essendon Accounts & Tax, a remarkable voyage of growth through often challenging conditions.
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Insights

Then vs Now

As we celebrate 10 years at Essendon, let’s take a moment to reflect on how things have changed since 2014.
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Insights

The Phishing-as-a-Service trend helping drive up cyber attacks

It’s Cyber Security Awareness Month, which once again shines a spotlight on the growing cyber threat facing businesses.
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HMRC

VAT Registration Threshold and the 2024 Autumn Budget

The 2024 autumn budget is on the horizon and there is a lot of buzz around the VAT registration threshold increase.
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View all posts in Issue 21 - Autumn 2024

Issue 20 - Spring/Summer 2024

Red Sofa Interviews

Shannon Lawton on The Red Sofa

Shannon Lawton from Lawton & Co joins us on The Red Sofa

HMRC

Child Benefit Earnings Cap Raised From £50k to £60k

You may have seen the changes in the spring budget and noticed an increase in the earnings cap for receiving child benefit.
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Insights

How Could AI Help Boost Your Productivity

It feels like everyone is talking about Artificial Intelligence (AI) right now - and it’s no surprise.
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Insights

Overpaying Your Mortgage: Should You Do It?

For many homeowners the increasing costs of owning and running a home is having a huge impact on household budgets.
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Business

Salary vs Dividends

If you own a limited company business, you have undoubtedly considered whether you should take a salary or dividends or both.
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View all posts in Issue 20 - Spring/Summer 2024

Issue 19 - Winter 2024

Red Sofa Interviews

Caroline Kendhammer on The Red Sofa

Caroline Kendhammer from Bubble Creative Solutions joins us on The Red Sofa

Business

Labour Expense and Recruitment Issues Leave Employers Struggling

The Quarterly Recruitment Outlook (QRO) is a survey of 5000 UK firms of various sizes and operating in multiple sectors.
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Insights

22/23 Tax Return Trees Planted Total

Our final donation to The National Trust ‘Plant A Tree Fund’ for this tax year brings us up to a total of 645 trees!
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From the Business Godparent

Together We Can Make 2024 A Great Year

2023 was a challenging year for most people, and by the looks of it, 2024 is not going to be much better.
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Insights

Is The UK Drowning in Data and Decisions?

With software available that can gather data on all aspects of business performance, it’s no surprise that people are feeling overwhelmed.
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View all posts in Issue 19 - Winter 2024

Issue 18 - Autumn 2023

Red Sofa Interviews

Phil Smith on The Red Sofa

Phil Smith from The Alternative Board joins us on The Red Sofa

Sponsorship

Essendon are sponsoring JAM!

We’re proud to be sponsoring #JAMathon2023!
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Insights

The Cost of Living Crisis and How it is Effecting so Many Households

The current cost of living crisis is having a significant impact on many households.
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Trusted Partners

Processes are Important – its how you deliver what you do!

In a recent discussion with business owners the importance of processes came up.
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Top Tips

Encouraging your Employees to Prioritise their Mental Health

With the stresses and strains of life and the added pressure of the cost of living crisis, now is the time to ensure you and your employees are prioritising their mental health.
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View all posts in Issue 18 - Autumn 2023

Issue 17 – Summer 2023

Red Sofa Interviews

Mike Feuer on The Red Sofa

Mike Feuer from Compass Business Development joins us on The Red Sofa

Top Tips

Mastering Payments on Account: A Guide for Self-Assessment Taxpayers

Navigating Self-Assessment and payment on account can be difficult to understand.
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Top Tips

How Your Business Could Benefit From a Financial Coach

Many successful businesses struggle with managing their books. This is where a financial coach could benefit you.
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VAT

VAT History – 50 Years

It's Value Added Tax’s anniversary, we invite you to take a journey through its history and impact on the UK economy.
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Business

Allowable Expenses You Can Claim on Being Self Employed

As a self-employed business owner, it’s important to understand the allowable expenses that can be claimed.
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View all posts in Issue 17 – Summer 2023

Issue 16 – Winter 2023

Red Sofa Interviews

Stephen Whitton on The Red Sofa

Stephen Whitton from [M]enable joins us on The Red Sofa

From the Business Godparent

Support is never far away

This time last year most of us were full of optimism after a horrendous couple of years during the pandemic.
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Trusted Partners

Running a business is unlike anything else

As business owners we know that there’s nothing more rewarding than running your own business.
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Trusted Partners

You can have a good divorce

A good divorce means different things to different people.
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Top Tips

When the going gets tough, the tough check their margins

With the inflationary waves that are rippling through the economy, it looks as though 2023 will present some challenges.
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View all posts in Issue 16 – Winter 2023

Issue 15 – Autumn 2022

Red Sofa Interviews

Jake Stubbs on The Red Sofa

Jake Stubbs gives his top tips on how to manage and understand your accounts better on The Red Sofa

Trusted Partners

Standing out: how to find and own your position in your marketplace

Standing out from the competition isn't just an issue for businesses in a crowded marketplace.
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Top Tips

75 Years of Inflation – what can we learn?

As the cost of living increases drastically we can look back at previous inflation data to help analyse the current economic situation.
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From the Business Godparent

It keeps on coming, doesn’t it?

Rising inflation, rising interest rates and an apparent lack of skilled labour just after we lick our wounds from Covid.
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Insights

21/22 Tax return trees planted

We have recently made another donation to the National Trust to plant 48 trees, that’s a total of 82 trees so far!
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View all posts in Issue 15 – Autumn 2022

Issue 14 – Spring 2022

Red Sofa Interviews

Dom Muscat on The Red Sofa

Dom Muscat from Bucks Biz joins us on The Red Sofa

From the Business Godparent

Support your network

It’s a certain fact that things are tough in the world at the moment; bombs landing on innocent people, people struggling to buy food, and the list goes on.
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Trusted Partners

Are we normal?

For many businesses coming out of lockdown in recent months the question has been “Are we back to normal now?”
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Trusted Partners

Trends, trajectories and sustainable truisms. Who’s looking at this kind of trend for you?

In the early 1980s, a gallon of petrol crossed the 70p price barrier and everyone thought the world would come to an end.
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HMRC

Spring Statement Round-up

The Chancellor presented his Spring Statement in March.
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View all posts in Issue 14 – Spring 2022

Issue 13 – Winter 2022

Red Sofa Interviews

Mark Miller on The Red Sofa

Mark Miller from Goodfoot Development joins us on The Red Sofa

Insights

All About The Prompt Payment Code

Every small business likes to work with larger customers.
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Trusted Partners

Make ’22 stand out for you!

In this digital world that we live in, we all have access to a wide range of marketing platforms to communicate and get our brands visible.
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Issue 11 – Summer 2021

Be seen, be green, with AG Promotional Products

Over the past few years, there has been a growing emphasis for businesses and consumers alike, to play a part in being environmentally friendly.
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BookClub

BookClub: The Slight Edge

The Slight Edge is an easy book to read and the key takeaways for me are.
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View all posts in Issue 13 – Winter 2022

Issue 12 - Autumn 2021

Red Sofa Interviews

Lionel Naidoo on The Red Sofa

Lionel Naidoo from Dragon Information Systems joins us on The Red Sofa

From the Business Godparent

2021 Year Round Up

We are now entering the last few weeks of 2021 and what a year it has been so far.
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HR

Why I should focus on my employees’ wellbeing?

Is the wellbeing of your employees something you need to consider?
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VAT

The ongoing saga of VAT and Jaffa Cakes

It’s my personal opinion that you should never assume anything with VAT.
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Top Tips

How to maximise the weekend recharge

Even if you haven’t been able to get away on holiday this year, try our top tips to switch off and make the weekend a stress-free mini break.
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View all posts in Issue 12 - Autumn 2021

Issue 11 – Summer 2021

Red Sofa Interviews

Julie Futcher on the virtual Red Sofa

Julie Futcher from The Sales Aces joins us on The Virtual Red Sofa

Xledger

Are you an online seller?

We have a broad portfolio of clients and from an accounting perspective they have different needs.
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From the Business Godparent

Freedom Day is here!

The 19th July has arrived and there is a lot going on for businesses.
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Events

Roger at Digital Transformation

Roger was recently asked to speak at the Digital Transformation Forum, which took place in May this year.
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Top Tips

Top ten positive outcomes from the pandemic

We’ve all received a few wake-up calls in the last few months.
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View all posts in Issue 11 – Summer 2021

Issue 10 - Spring 2021

Red Sofa Interviews

Louise Gordon on the Red Sofa

Louise Gordon from Louise Gordon Consultancy ltd joins us on The Red Sofa

Employee Spotlight

Employee Spotlight – Matthew Brown

Meet Matthew Brown
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Top Tips

Helping pets after lockdown

There’s a good chance that we’ll start heading back to the office over the next few weeks.
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Top Tips

Budget Changes to Boost Growth

Looking to boost your growth? Here are the top 5 budget changes that will give you a helping hand.
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From the Business Godparent

Go for Growth

The UK has become a nation of accidental savers; an interesting side-effect of the Covid-19 restrictions.
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View all posts in Issue 10 - Spring 2021

Issue 09 - Winter 2021

Red Sofa Interviews

Kirsty Parris on the Red Sofa

Kirsty Parris from Andromeda Business Consulting joins us on The Red Sofa

Top Tips

Top Ten Accounting Acronyms

Have you heard of TLAs (three letter abbreviations)?
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Employee Spotlight

Employee Spotlight – Gemma Barry

Meet Gemma Barry
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From the Business Godparent

Looking back at 2020

So… what will 2020 be remembered for? I ask because perspective matters here.
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Network

Falling back in love with Monday mornings

New Year is traditionally a time for reflection.
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View all posts in Issue 09 - Winter 2021

Issue 08 – Autumn 2020

Red Sofa Interviews

Terry Kendhammer on the Red Sofa

Terry Kendhammer from Bubble Creative Solutions joins us on The Red Sofa

From the Business Godparent

What is your new norm?

Back in March, we were told to work from home if we could.
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HMRC

Even HMRC knows that every little helps…

If you’re still working from home because of this pandemic, it’s worth checking out what home workers can claim as expenses with HMRC.
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Trusted Partners

Bringing the office home… Long term

We think this issue of The Business Godparent is a superb opportunity to introduce you to Bring the Office Home, a new venture founded by Dijon.
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Making Tax Digital

Powering your business with real-time information

One of the key ingredients for the success of a business is information.
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View all posts in Issue 08 – Autumn 2020

Issue 07 - Summer 2020

Red Sofa Interviews

Rachel Brushfield on the Red Sofa

Rachel Brushfield, Talent Liberator joins us on The Red Sofa

From The Business Dogparent

Lockdown Dogitation

They’ve needed walking twice a day and haven’t left me alone for a minute either.
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From the Business Godparent

The Business Godparent

As we come out of hibernation and the bustle returns, there’s no doubt that many of us are now bracing for more stress.
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Top Tips

Returning Employees to the Workplace

There’s no two ways about it, we are all itching to get back to some sense of ‘normal’.
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From the Business Godparent

The Positives of Lockdown…

Fairly quickly into lockdown it was reported that alcohol sales skyrocketed, along with the consumption of homemade cakes.
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View all posts in Issue 07 - Summer 2020

Issue 06 - Spring 2020

Red Sofa Interviews

Andrew Franklin on the Red Sofa

Andrew Franklin from HSBC joins us on The Red Sofa

Essendon Foresight

Track cashflow… to be in the know!

Many businesses are struggling with cashflow at the moment, and yes, we know that’s stating the obvious.
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Top Tips

Dodging the scammers

The government is wisely advising us to stay at home.
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Top Tips

Cyber-attack… it follows a process

As we are currently very aware, “attack” on our world can come from many angles.
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Top Tips

10 Things to do after Covid-19

There’s no two ways about it, we are all itching to get back to some sense of ‘normal’.
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