Business
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Rishi Sunak
lessons from Sunak's speech
Here’s a rundown of some of the major measures announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in his 2021 Autumn Budget speech affecting businesses, with commentary from senior personal finance expert, James Andrews from money.co.uk… Tax rises National Insurance will be rising from April next year. This will see an extra 1.25 percentage points of tax taken from pay packets - through both class 1 National Insurance Contributions paid by employees and class 4 NICs paid by self-employed workers. This is expected to add about £180 a year to the average standard rate taxpayer's annual bills and £715 a year to the average higher rate taxpayer's bills. The levy will not apply to pensions income or voluntary payments. Dividend taxes will also rise by 1.25 percentage points - this is a tax charged on income received from shares you own. The Chancellor said that he planned to reduce taxes in the next few years.
Minimum wage rises The UK’s lowest-paid workers will see their wages rise from April 1 next year, with the National Living Wage (NLW) increasing from £8.91 to £9.50 an hour – adding £1,073.80 to the annual earnings of someone working 35 hours a week. The minimum wage for people aged 21-22 is going up from £8.36 to £9.18 an hour and the Apprentice Rate rises from £4.30 to £4.81 an hour. Sunak said: “This wage boost
ensures we’re making work pay and keeps us on track to meet our target to end low pay by the end of this Parliament.”
Public sector pay rises After a one year pay pause, the Chancellor said more than 5 million public sector workers would see their pay rise again next year. This includes nurses, teachers and members of the armed forces. Sunak said: “With the economy firmly back on track, it’s right that nurses, teachers and all the other public sector workers who played their part during the pandemic see their wages rise.” How much of a pay rise people will get will depend on recommendations from the independent Pay Review Bodies.
And the rest Other new introductions affecting businesses include Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) and changes to Corporation Tax. Plastic Packaging Tax will apply to plastic packaging manufactured in or imported into the UK containing less than 30% recycled plastic when measured by weight. It will apply to businesses that manufacture or import plastic packaging components or import packaged goods into the UK. From the 2022 new financial year, all UK businesses liable to pay Corporation Tax will be required to pay a main rate of 19% for all non-ring fenced profits over £250,000. This is set to increase further in 2023 to 25%. A small profits rate (SPR) will be introduced for business with profits of £50,000 or less so that they will continue to pay Corporation Tax at 19%.
Leadership blindspots Think you don’t have any blind spots as a leader? Think again. No matter what our experience, we all have our blind spots; what we lack is the capacity to see them. An MHS report revealed over half of the survey respondents believed current Leadership Development efforts at their organisations are less than effective. At the heart of our lack of self-awareness is a combination of Heider’s ‘self-serving bias’ and the ‘Dunning-Kruger Effect’. We all tend to overestimate our abilities in areas that we have some experience in and leadership is no exception. Christine Macdonald, director of HR and management training company The Hub Events, lists 10 insights into how a leader can beat the odds and spot their own blind spots and overcome them. 1. Over-estimating your own ability 2. Clinging to the status quo 3. Underestimating your competitors 4. Focus on short term thinking 5. Avoiding the tough conversations 6. Not seeing your impact on others 7. Equating opinion with fact 8. Losing touch with your employees 9. Believing the rules don’t apply to you 10. Failure to focus on the important few
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Three cheers for Pauline! Pauline Paterson of Dr.PAWPAW in Bromley has joined 19 other extraordinary women from across the country to be named as a finalist in the NatWest everywoman Awards. Selected from nearly 1,000 entries, the finalists’ stories tell of success in the face of adversity and demonstrate that even they are not immune to the challenges of the past 18 months. Recognised in the Aphrodite Award that champions women who started a business alongside raising young children, Pauline joins 19 other finalists across multiple categories.
December 2021 Life in... Orpington 39
