Case Studies Category
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Lamb prices lowest for three years
New figures from The National Farmers' Union (NFU) show that farmers are losing on average £29 for every lamb they sell at market, farm-gate prices having dropped by almost a fifth in the past year. With lamb prices at their lowest for three years, the NFU points out that the situation for farmers has been made worse by rising production costs due to the extreme weather in 2012. In addition, impacts from the new lamb-deforming disease Schmallenberg ...
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Keenan wins “Practice with Science” award
An new, science-based approach to feeding dairy and beef cattle has won feed wagon manufacturer , Keenan, the Oxford Farming Conference and Royal Agricultural Society of England "Practice with Science" award. Sponsored by AB Agri, the prize money totals £10,000 and will be used by the firm to further research into feed efficiency and carbon footprinting. The judges were impressed with Keenan's "mech-fiber" system which gives farmers a practical approach to improving their economic, environmental and animal ...
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KPMG warning on “Payment Diversion” fraud
Accountancy firm, KPMG, is drawing attention to fraud suffered by businesses that have been advised that a supplier's bank account details have changed. Over the past six months, KPMG's forensic team has examined 11 new cases of this type of fraud and become aware of at least 13 more. Cases range in value from just over £30,000 lost by one business in a single transaction to a total of £5 million extracted from another. It also appears that ...
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Autumn Statement: investment allowance raised to £250k
In today's Autumn Statement, Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced a temporary increase in the Annual Investment Allowance, from £25,000 to £250,000 for two years, with the move aimed at supporting small and medium-sized businesses. In addition the Chancellor set out plans to create a £1 billion Business Bank to help smaller firms access finance and support. The Country Land and Business Association has welcomed the increase in the investment allowance saying it could kick-start investment ...
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Ugly fruit and veg have their day
Over 300,000 tonnes of "ugly" British fruit and vegetables are thought to have appeared on supermarket shelves this year after retailers relaxed specifications in response to a difficult growing season. According to the National Farmers' Union (NFU), growers across the country have welcomed the decision by major supermarkets to accept imperfect, weather-marked produce including potatoes, parsnips, sprouts, swedes and apples. So far concessions made include: An early move by Waitrose to accept shorter carrots, thinner parsnips and smaller strawberries. A ...
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Livestock and poultry research grants awarded
A couple of new research projects have been awarded funding to tackle some of the world's most devastating livestock and poultry viruses. Two projects funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) aim to provide new solutions to combating foot-and-mouth disease and poultry viruses. Over £5.6 million has been allocated to transform the way foot-and-mouth disease will be controlled in the future and over £6.2 million to develop rapid responses to emerging poultry viruses The grants ...
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Unite calls for action over Agricultural Wages Board
Britain's biggest trade union is furious with the Government for trying to scrap the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) with just four weeks of consultation. According to Unite, without the AWB to negotiate pay and fair housing, agricultural wages will fall to the lowest legal wage possible, as bad employers see this as the opportunity to cut pay and raise housing costs. Unite is therefore calling on minister to extend the consultation on the future of the AWB ...
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Small firms unaware of major changes to PAYE
A quarter of small firms are not aware that major changes on payroll reporting to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are coming into force in just six months time. According to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) a snap poll of 1,700 small firms found that only 16% were fully aware of the "Real Time Information" (RTI) programme they will need to use from 2013, as Universal Credit goes live. Shockingly, a quarter of respondents had never ...
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SMEs still gloomy over economic recovery
The majority (60%) of Britain's small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are not confident that the economy will improve over the next year. According to the latest quarterly SME Risk Index from insurer, Zurich, anxiety at the current state of the economy is highest amongst SMEs in the construction industry (93%), closely followed by manufacturing businesses (88%) and retailers (85%). More than half of SMEs questioned feel that the current business environment is more risky than this time ...
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Lemma Europe policyholders reassured by FSCS
UK customers of Lemma Europe Insurance Company, which has been declared in default, may receive assistance from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS says it is working closely with the firm's provisional liquidator in Gibraltar, Grant Thornton, to protect up to 7,000 UK policyholders who may be affected by the collapse. The insurer sold a variety of policies that could qualify for FSCS protection including: bloodstock; livestock; general public liability; UK employer's liability; general property; ...
