CBP's Blog

It always happens - every year we get a call from someone who we either host a website for or would like a quote for a website so that they can market their particular goods or services on the Internet for Christmas.
 
Sorry Guy's - if you haven't already done something about Christmas marketing you've left it a bit late if not too late.
 
If you are lucky enough to have website software like ours that allows you to update your own website any time of the day or night you will be able to create Christmas pages and make all kinds of offers to existing customers and potential new customers. So go ahead and do it.
 
If you can't do that then you need to be thinking ahead and perhaps planning your Easter campaign. Easter will be with us early next year so its worth noting that and taking action now for your campaign.
 
Good Internet Marketing is about planning ahead!!!

Reading our blogs so far you might think that we were against a Labour government, for the record we are not.
 
However, we are against any kind of government that

• Tells you one thing and does another 
• Makes bad legislation on the hoof 
• Does not think through its legislation for its impact across the business spectrum 
• Changes its clothes to suite public opinion or curry favour 
• Fails to do its sums and then blames the unfortunate individuals in our society who are for whatever reason unable to work  

Here are some home truths on the Tory's record on taxation and support for families

• Margaret Thatcher decided that there was no such thing as "the family" or "Society" and so taxation should no longer favour families against the single members of our society and her Chancellors duly took up the challenge to remove the bias.
    
• Married Persons allowances in these days could be swapped between husband and wife, so if the wife wasn't working or earning significantly less than her husband, her husband could claim her full tax allowances or unused tax allowances against his own income. In today's terms that would mean that a married couple could afford to earn almost £10,000 before basic rate income tax was levied
    
• The husband of the wife could elect for either of them to claim the married persons allowance (then around £1,000 p/a) this took the non taxable items in this one parent working family to £11,000 before tax was levied. 

Get real Mr Cameron!
 
You will have to move much more before you convince us and many more that your policies are truly family friendly and not a marketing ploy.

On the subject of Benefits
 
I would challenge these "born with a silver spoon in the mouth" holier than thou politicians to live on the benefits paid out each week to those in our society who for whatever reason don't or can't work.
 
Spend a month or two in their shoes mate, most of them they didn't go to public schools and have the benefit of family wealth behind them. But they are people not numbers!

Mr Darling and any Chancellor of the Exchequer that follows him should be aware of the following statistics.

• Small Businesses account for over 50% of the country's GDP 
• Small Businesses employ over 58% of the private sector workforce 
• Small Businesses make up 99% of UK businesses 
• Over 95% of these small businesses have less than 10 employees 
• Every piece of legislation that National Government and The European Commission passes costs small businesses far more than it does large organisations to implement 
• Current employment legislation is holding back the growth of small businesses 
• Rural small businesses have a harder time than urban small businesses due to poor infrastructure 

Ed

We often wonder what questions Government Minister's ask of their edicts and their legislative impact.
 
For example:

• Can anyone at the Treasury actually add up? 
• Are they aware of the wider implications of changes in legislation and taxation? 
• What is the impact on small firms of legislation brought to the statute book? 

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has backed himself and his party into a corner.
 
Mr Darling clearly demonstrated the other day on the new rules regarding Capital Gains Tax that neither he or his predecessor Gordon Brown have any idea how to think laterally. The changes to CGT rules mean that many small business owners will now loose out on their retirement planning and the adverse impact on small firms will still be greater than on large corporates.
 
The new rules are little more than an exercise in increasing taxation for all rather than addressing specific capital gains like those of the highly paid in venture capital and investment companies. This knee jerk reaction had not been thought through and now millions of hard working owner managers in the small business sector will suffer as a result.
 
Both Brown and his Protégé Mr Darling had no idea that the stealing of the Troy's stance on tax and other policy aspects would have changed the Labour leads in the polls so dramatically; but in making laws and regulations without thinking them through serves only to reduce them further in the eyes of the voting public and in particular owner managers of small businesses.
 
Having said all that, are we being a little unkind?
 
Perhaps the whole thing was intentional; to bring in more revenue from all areas so that they can continue to manage the country's affairs so ineptly.

Ed

Mark our words, they latest plans on taxation and legislation will sign the death warrant for the Labour Government.
 
The first qualification (it appears) needed to run a Government Department is to have a complete indifference on what commerce and industry needs and in particular what the small business sector cries out for.
 
Legislation from Brussels and our own National edicts continue to weight our owner managers down and increasingly takes up more time for the Whitehall pen pushers to poor over reams of statistics on how well they can view our economy.
 
If it comes from Brussels you can bet that our own mandarins are going to egg up the wording and impact so that more and more time is taken up by complying with regulations rather than running a business.
 
Our thanks to the Federation of Small Businesses for the information below. In a recent survey nearly 3000 firms gave their verdict of regulation.
 
The FSB's press release goes on to say that - Nearly 80 percent of small businesses owners, who generate half of UK GDP, have to deal with increasing levels of employment law by themselves, a new Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) report shows.
 
The survey of 2,826 small firms showed that small business owners and entrepreneurs are facing an ever-increasing burden of employment law unaided – 78% deal with employment paperwork themselves and a third do not know where to get Government advice on legislation that affects small businesses. This does not mean less protection for employees – in fact simpler laws would increase the understanding of the laws by small firms and their ability to implement them.
 
In addition, nearly a third of small business owners (32%) said that they didn't take on new staff because of the complexity of employment law.
 

Ed

Over 50% of the UK's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is produced by Britain's small businesses, yet every time the Government comes up with an idea to help small firms it usually ends up with an increase in taxes or paperwork.
 
Our small firms are treated like a Cash Cow by whatever government happens to be elected and we are abused constantly as unpaid tax collectors as the ranks of civil servants grow and we in the small business sector do more of their work.
 
Politicians are so lucky - they obviously couldn't run a business and the only reason they are still there is because we pick up the tab for all their incompetences.
 
Get a grip Westminster - you are here to serve us not the other way round!!!!!

Ed