Archive for March, 2009
WTF does Lord Oakshott think he is?
Posted by sarah in Courier Shop Admin on March 31, 2009
I have just read an article wrote by Lord Oakshott, who appears to be some kind of MP. He is writing about tax havens and tax avoidance.
He says…” You don’t have to take a Caribbean cruise – stroll to Westminster pier for a boat down the Thames to Canary Wharf. Too many big businesses twists and turn to dodge tax in this country. They put white van man to shame”
White van men are put to shame by what?
Is Lord Oakshott implying white van man likes to avoid tax? the only friend a white van man has is the FSB legal services who will assist the company or self employed person if they are visited by an overzealous tax inspector.
A lot has been made of the Artic Systems case where a spouse was paid from the business, just compare that to what MPs pay their spouses to be their researchers!
Back to Lord Oakshott, come and spend the day with our white van men, get behind the wheel of one of our vehicles. But don’t use it for personal use, like getting yourself a bottle of water cos you will be taxed on the use of vehicles for personal use. Don’t even think of smoking in the vehicles, they are working vehicles, it’s illegal. Heck, don’t even deviate from your route by a mile, don’t get lost – do you know how much we pay in fuel taxation?
Tax havens are for big business, don’t compare the big businesses and banks to small businesses, they won’t like the lessons they can learn from us and they most certainly won’t like learning things like acting with decency, respecting and listening to customers. Or paying their taxes for that matter.
As to MP’s, Lord Oakshott you can save a fair few quid by employing HMRC tax inspectors to go through the MPs expense accouts. Get your own house in order before you start on any business, regardless of it’s size.
Annoyed in Essex
PS call me if you wish to take up my offer of a days driving and being a white van man. We start at 5am, bring your own steel toe caps and high viz jacket, and if you are lucky you won’t get any parking, speeding or driving tickets. Don’t be late. In the real world, your pay will be docked.
Related articles
- HMRC launches Barclays tax probe
- MPs condemn failure of HM Revenue and Customs to prosecute rich tax dodgers
- MPs says HMRC should use terror legislation on evaders
Tax tip for couriers
Posted by sarah in Courier World on March 27, 2009
Some of you may not have seen the excellent Tax Tip sent by Sandra Patterson from Boxby recently, with her permission I have added it here. If you know a courier, please send the info on to them. If they had a tough year, this can make all the difference.
Sandra and Boxby’s details are at the bottom of the page.
Tax Tip for the Year End.
I know that many of the business using Boxby will be trading as sole traders & partnerships. Also, that 2008-9 has been a very tough time for the Courier & transport industry, so here is a quick tip from Boxby to help self employed businesses with their tax bills.
The tax that you paid in January, and the payment due in July is a payment on account for the 2008-9 tax year, with the balance and tax return due 31/1/2010.
However, the payments made are based on your profits for the previous year. Now 2008-9 saw record high fuel prices, a recession, and the introduction of a new Annual Investment Allowance for anyone that bought vans during the year. This means, that for many couriers and transport businesses, 2008-9 profits are likely to be lower than the previous year.
We therefore recommend that you get your accounts and tax returns in as early as possible this year. The 2008-9 tax year ends a few days time, and you can submit your return anytime after then. If your taxable profits for 2008-9 are lower then the previous year then you can reduce your payment on account due in July.   And if your business has made tax losses then you can usually apply for a repayment of tax.
All of this is better done sooner than later. So if 2008-9 has been a tough year for you, then at least get this bit sorted and make sure that you’re reducing your tax payments appropriately. There is no benefit at all to leaving this until the end of the tax year. So speak to your accountant and get it sorted!
Regards
Sandra Patterson
Boxby Ltd
E-mail: admin@boxby.co.uk
Web: www.boxby.co.uk
Couriers – creating the right impression
Posted by sarah in Courier Shop Admin on March 16, 2009
Last summer we launched our E book ‘The Complete Courier Guide’. To our amazement the guide has sold well, but the one thing wannabe couriers are not understanding is the power of a first impression.
A first impression to a customer can make or break a local business so it’s imperative to get it right.
Via the Phone… take the gum from your mouth, the cigarette and put the pork pie down. Your voice should sound like you, and not like a truffle pig snuffling around a tree trunk. You need to be professional, and sounding professional is a good start.
Verbal ticks like “yeah right”, “you know what I mean” and “Erm…. ” practice in the mirror till they are gone, it’s a bit of work but it makes you sound much better, if you know what I mean 
Getting your partner to call clients prospecting isnt a bad thing, but they must know the answers to the questions like
- What size vehicle
- What size the vehicle payload is
- What the mileage rate is
- What hours you work
- What you are allowed to carry
- What sort of loads you are not allowed to carry
If they don’t know this, make the calls yourself. How does it sound to whisper all this in their ear as they are talking to the prospect?
If you sound the part, and sound professional – you are half way there.
Sarah
Workplace parking levy and transport businesses
Posted by sarah in Courier Shop Admin on March 11, 2009
The new proposed Workplace Parking Levy came to my attention early this evening. The Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) means employers will be liable for a tax on vehicles if they provide a parking space for them.
The exact wording that I have found is this…
Liable parking spaces would be those employers provide for their staff or certain types of business visitors.
So, where does that leave us courier and transport companies? With a bigger bill by the looks of things.
Back when the London Congestion Zone was being talked about and consulted with the couriers within the zone, the prediction was it would affect only a few businesses. It was actually 90%. It would have been more honest to say it the other way around. It didnt make the environment any better and it certainly didnt reduce congestion very much either.
Now, you may think to yourself… but couriers and transport companies don’t have lots of offices in town centres and this is being done to save the environment, (which is something I am all for) and public transport will be better…
What courier and transport companies have are offices and warehouses on the local industrial parks which are very poorly served by public transport. Many staff drive in and now, the companies are going to be hit by another tax with no discernible benefit to their business.
Will every industrial park in the UK now be served by public transport?
Nottingham council have a comprehensive page about it here
The Levy:
On each liable parking space the levy would be in the region of £185 per year starting in 2010 and rising to around £350 at the opening of NET Phase Two, with increases linked to inflation in future years.
100% discount:
It is proposed that there would be some employers who would receive a 100% discount from the levy. They would be City of Nottingham employers with 10 or less ‘liable’ spaces, the emergency services and staff at NHS run premises.
There is good news though, if you are a home based courier business and sleep where you work, you will be exempt.
Workplace Parking Levy Petition
Your thoughts?
Sarah
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Hydrocharger – Have you heard of it?
Posted by sarah in Courier Shop Admin, Driving, Fleet Information, Get More Customers on March 11, 2009
For several years now, the UK has been moving the issues of Global Warming and the depletion of the earth™s fossil fuels further and further up the political agenda. Today, petrol and diesel prices have reached a record high, causing economic difficulties for businesses and private individuals alike. At the same time, Government is pressing ahead with its policy of taxing vehicles on the basis of their emissions “ the more polluting the vehicle, the higher the tax. Although it insists that this incentivises motorists to drive more environmentally-friendly vehicles, the reality is that motorists are faced with two choices, both of which cost money they can ill afford
Sell their current car and buy a new low-emission example. Due to ever-increasing fuel prices and a draconian Road Fund Tax policy, second hand values of high-emission cars are falling dramatically, making the cost of this changing your car higher than ever. It follows that the greater the Government incentive, the smaller the number of people who can afford to buy less-polluting cars.
Motorists are therefore between a rock and a hard place. They would like to do the right thing and make the change, but cannot afford to do so. If they do not change, they cannot afford to run their vehicles (on which they rely) without diverting funds from somewhere else (e.g. food, clothing, education, etc). This is undoubtedly having a detrimental knock-on effect on personal lifestyles and the economy generally.
A solution
The team behind Hydrocharger Limited has been researching and developing Hydrogen on Demand systems for internal combustion engines for around five years with a view to reducing fuel consumption and reducing harmful emissions. Today the company offers an aftermarket product called Hydrocharger that customers can be confident will increase MPG for existing cars and light vans by around 25%, and at the same time will reduce emissions by around 40%. Hydrochargers are also producing very significant improvements for Heavy Goods Vehicles.
What is Hydrocharger?
In very simple terms, a Hydrocharger system consists of one or more interconnected cells filled with distilled water and a small quantity of electrolyte. When the engine is running a current is passed through electrodes in each cell to produce HHO (hydrogen and oxygen), which in turn is fed into the air intake of the engine. The Hydrogen acts as a secondary fuel source, which reduces the volume of the primary fuel (petrol or diesel) that is required. At the same time the oxygen causes the primary fuel to be burned more completely. The result is a reduction in petrol/diesel consumption and a dramatic reduction in harmful emissions.
Hydrocharger cells are unique in appearance, being made of heat-resistant ABS with a full-height transparent water-level viewing window. All the components have been carefully designed to maximise the volume of hydrogen produced for a given current, whilst at the same time minimising electrode deterioration and preventing overheating. Registered Installers can either install Hydrochargers in the engine bay (if room permits) or remotely in the boot of the vehicle.
Why buy Hydrocharger?
With around 4,500 satisfied customers to date, Hydrocharger Limited is almost certainly the UK leader in this exciting new market. Hydrocharger offers the average motorist significant net savings in fuel costs. If the Government could be persuaded to set a vehicles Road Fund Tax band by its actual emissions (i.e. post Hydrocharger installation) rather than by the manufacturers quoted figures, the argument for fitting a Hydrocharger to every vehicle on the road would be even more compelling.
We are not aware of any other product of a similar price that can offer today’s motorist the chance to
- Reduce running costs so significantly
- Reduce their carbon footprint so dramatically
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A sobering thought
If every vehicle on the UKs roads were fitted with a Hydrocharger, it would have the same effect environmentally as taking TWELVE MILLION vehicles off the road
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Goal
The Directors of Hydrocharger Limited are committed to making it possible for as many vehicles as possible to be fitted with a Hydrocharger within the next five years, both in the UK and overseas. Their primary motivation is the environmental and social benefits that Hydrocharger offers, rather than their own personal financial gain. The Directors believe strongly that it is our collective duty to ensure that our children have a future to which they can look forward.
Innovation
Hydrocharger Limited is the first company in the UK (and one of the first in the world) to harness the established technology of hydrogen production from the electrolysis of water and apply it to the automotive aftermarket. Utilising what is (to all intents and purposes) “free†energy brings welcome solutions to two of the major challenges facing motorists and society as a whole – how to combat ever-rising fuel costs and reduce pollution levels. Every conceivable economic indicator points to the fact that Hydrocharger is the right product in the right place at the right time.
Motor manufacturers are all introducing new technology that will make the cars of the future cleaner and more efficient but thats tomorrow. The problem is NOW. Buying a new, cleaner and more economical car does not cure the problem“ it simply shifts your problem onto somebody else (whoever you sell your existing car to). Fitting a Hydrocharger does fix the problem because it increases your current cars MPG by 25% and reduces its harmful emissions by around 40% – and its a fraction of the cost of replacing your existing car with a new one!
Hydrocharger can transform the cars we have today and make them as clean as or cleaner than the cars we can expect to be buying tomorrow.
New Product Release
We have now released our new truck system email for more information.
Pricing
Car/Van upto 3000cc £220
Car/Van 3000cc + £440
HGV/24 volt system £1500
Email for more information to get the right kit for your vehicle.
sam@hydrochargeme.com
Why we made a video for our courier business
Posted by sarah in Courier Shop Admin on March 10, 2009
This is the Testimonial video by Kevin at Arrow Light Haulage on why he chose to make a video for his Essex based courier business.
So, would you consider making a video for your business?
Sarah
Couriers – generalise or specialise?
Posted by sarah in Courier Shop Admin on March 4, 2009
What are your thoughts on growing your courier business? would you generalise and do generic every day items for delivery, or should you specialise?
What is a specialist courier?
These are some courier types who fill a niche in the industry :-
- Medical Couriers
- Technical couriers
- Legal couriers
- Chilled / refrigerated couriers
There are many others these are just a few that spring to mind. To fill a niche, it’s essential that you research that niche first.
Have you heard about the Spanish Bacon Courier? Stories abound from expats in Spain, on how they would LOVE a real bacon sarnie and not just the crispy Spanish style strips… How a courier who transports real bacon to Spain would become minted overnight… has anyone ever done the research? of course they have, and thats how we know it’s not actually viable to fill the Spanish Bacon Courier Niche.
So, do your research on what niche you are looking to fill. Call prospective customers and ask them if they would use the service, what would make it better than their existing service and if they did use the service, how often would they need it? In fact, make a great big list of questions to ask, because it will hurt a lot worse to by a chilled vehicle only to find there is no demand in your area.
So, what are your thoughts – generalist or specialist?
Sarah
Essential kit to be a courier
Posted by sarah in Courier World on March 4, 2009
The first thing you think of is the van and a map (and insurance, but for the beginner it an be an after thought) but actually there are other things that a courier requires….
- Ratchet straps are an essential part of the job – you need to secure your load. Small loads can slide and smash if they are not secured.
- Safety clothing, steel toecaps and high visibility jackets and high viz vests. You may need a hard hat, you may be issued one as you go into the customers premises, be prepared.
- Hands free mobile, you will need to keep people informed on the job and you need to do it safely and legally.
I also consider Sat Navs to be essential kit, safer to drive to your destination and easy to update from your PC.
The Tom Tom ONE is a superb for a beginner who doesn’t go into Europe.
So, have I covered it all – what do you consider essential bits of kit for a courier?
Kevin
Thought about becoming a courier with your redundancy?
Posted by sarah in Courier Shop Admin on March 2, 2009
Times are tough in the transport industry at present, and many people can see opportunities to become a self employed courier or start a courier business.
The first thing you have to do is your reseacgh, do you want to start an express courier business or a parcel courier business? Do you know the difference? can you explain that difference in order to win business?
Think twice before you invest your redundancy money into something you don’t know much about.
Speak to independant business advisors, could you buy a going concern and win new business? would that be easier than starting from scratch?
Whatever you decide good luck
Sarah
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