What IS an ISA?

Daniel Liddicott
Sept 2023 • 12 min read

What is an ISA?

An Individual Savings Account (ISA) is a tax-efficient account available to residents of the United Kingdom. The main perk of an ISA is that any interest, dividends or capital gains you earn within the account are exempt from income tax and capital gains tax (CGT). This means that the money you make from your investments stays ‘in your pocket’, helping it grow faster over time.

Types of ISAs:

There are several types of ISAs, each designed for specific savings goals and risk tolerances:

Cash ISA: This is similar to a regular savings account, where you deposit cash, and it earns interest over time. It’s a low-risk option ideal for short-term savings goals
Stocks and Shares ISA: If you’re willing to invest with a long term mindset, a Stocks and Shares ISA allows you to invest in stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments. Over the long term, this can offer better returns than a Cash ISA
Lifetime ISA (LISA): Aimed at helping you save for your first home or retirement, the Lifetime ISA provides a government bonus on your contributions. You must be between the ages of 18 and 39 to open a Lifetime ISA. There are some restrictions on withdrawals, so it’s essential to understand the terms
Junior ISA (JISA): If you’re under 18, a Junior ISA is designed for you. Parents or guardians can open one on your behalf, and it can be converted into an adult ISA when you turn 18

A simple breakdown of how ISAs work:

Choose your ISA type: Determine your savings goal and risk tolerance. For short-term goals or risk-averse investors, a Cash ISA might be best. If you’re looking to grow your wealth over the long term, consider talking to us about a Stocks and Shares ISA
Open an ISA account: You can open an ISA account through banks, building societies, investment platforms (if you use a financial adviser), or even online. It’s a straightforward process, requiring some personal information
Contribute: You can make deposits into your ISA account of up to £20,000 each tax year. Keep in mind that Junior ISAs have a lower limit of £9,000 each tax year. These are separate allowances, so depositing £9,000 into your child’s JISA does not count towards your own ISA allowance of £20,000.

You can contribute up to £4,000 per tax year into a Lifetime ISA, which will use up some of your ISA annual allowance. This means that you could contribute a further £16,000 to another adult ISA. The 25% bonus that you receive from the Government on your Lifetime ISA contributions do not use up your ISA annual allowance, meaning that you could have £21,000 added to your ISAs in this way each tax year (£4,000 to your Lifetime ISA + £1,000 Government bonus + £16,000 contribution to other adult ISA).

If you have a child who is 16 or 17 years old, they are entitled to both a Junior ISA and an adult ISA, meaning that they are also entitled to BOTH of the annual allowances that come with them. This means that the amount that can be saved into ISAs on behalf of these teenagers can increase from £9,000 per year to £29,000 per year. Note that the adult ISA during this transition period must be a cash ISA. Once they turn 18 years old, however, their annual allowance will revert back to the standard £20,000 per tax year – so there are only two years in which to take advantage.

Invest: If you opt for a Stocks and Shares ISA, you can start investing your money in a diversified portfolio of assets. Remember, investing carries risks, and it’s crucial to do your research or seek advice
Earn Tax-Efficient Returns: Any interest, dividends, or capital gains you earn within your ISA account remain exempt from CGT and income tax. This is a significant advantage that can help your wealth grow faster. You might easily fall into the trap of thinking that ISAs are tax-free, but that isn’t the case. ISAs are subject to inheritance tax (IHT)
Monitor and Manage: Keep an eye on your ISA’s performance and ensure you stay on track with your savings goals (or use a financial adviser to do this for you). As you get older, your priorities may change. People often shift in their approach towards certain things for a variety of reasons. This could manifest itself as a change in attitude to investment risk, for example; or taking a decision which requires capital such as purchasing a property.

General tips

Start Early: The earlier you start saving or investing, the more time your money has to grow due to the historical long-term nature of markets.

Government Bonuses: If you opt for a Lifetime ISA, you can benefit from government contributions. You can deposit up to a maximum of £4,000 into a LISA each tax year and the government will contribute 25% of what you deposit. You can do this each year until you reach the age of 50. The funds within a Lifetime ISA can only be accessed without penalty for the purchase of a first home (maximum value of £450,000) or once the account holder has passed 60 years of age. Should you wish to dip into this ISA for any other reason, you will be charged 25% on the withdrawal – and you don’t just lose the amount of bonus you receive:

Example:

£4,000 contribution + £1,000 bonus = £5,000

£5,000 withdrawal – £1,250 (25% penalty) = £3,750

Result = a loss of £250 (6.25% loss on the original £4,000 contribution)

Conclusion

Understanding ISAs is an important step towards securing your financial future. Whether you’re saving for a car, a house, or your dream holiday, ISAs offer a tax-efficient way to grow your money over time. Remember to research your options, set clear savings goals, and consider seeking financial advice if you’re unsure about your investment choices. With the right approach and discipline, you can use ISAs to build a solid foundation for a prosperous financial future.

BACK TO ALL BLOGS

What IS an ISA?Jemima Thomas2023-12-01T12:12:28+00:00

Updating your spending plan

Trimming the fat

We won’t highlight the scary numbers around the cost of living crisis we now find ourselves in, but we will do our best to ensure that you feel prepared.

In many ways our clients are not as impacted by this as many folk in our wider communities – we don’t have any clients earning minimum wage for example. But we do have clients who are in their retirement and for whom small changes can have repercussions over the longer term. We also have a number of clients who fall into the ‘middle-earners’ bracket (recently identified in the press as a group who will feel the pinch).

This particular group of people are generally logical who therefore know that the answer probably lies in being sensible about budgeting; and cutting costs where it is possible to do so.

There is a lot of ’bumpf’ in social media currently about millennials who are tired of the advice from older generations to cancel their Spotify account and stop buying their skinny lattes at Starbucks in order to save money. This advice given in the context of trying to save up for a deposit on a house is frankly inadequate and I do understand the millennials’ argument about that.

However if we apply the same sort of methodology to the current crisis of ‘my living costs are increasing by £150pm’ – then there is actually some common sense to this approach – take a look …

Spotify £9.99pm

Netflix £10.99pm

Starbucks £40pm (assumes halving a one-coffee-per-workday habit)

Wine £20 (buy two bottles less per month)

Takeaway or meal out £40 (reduce by one per month – amount depends on size of household)

Amazon Prime £7.99

These alone total £128.97

We’re not talking about huge lifestyle-changing cuts here – we’re talking about small changes that soon add up. Shopping around for cheaper options on your existing expenditure is another way to cut costs (sometimes significantly) – mortgage, insurances, TV & broadband package, mobile phone contract.

UPDATING YOUR SPENDING PLAN

Martin Lewis (Money Saving Expert) comes up with new suggestions all the time – frankly I find the layout of his website ‘messy’ but I do rather like his weekly newsletter which is always full of good ideas.

It probably goes without saying but ‘now’ would be a very good time to review and update your spending plan – you can only consider how to cut costs if you know where the biggest savings are to be had – we know this can be a painful exercise so we offer a few ways for you to do this – you can click here for our video and for a pdf or an excel version of our income and expenditure form; OR you can send us (securely via the portal please) the last three months of your bank statements and we’ll do the legwork for you; OR we can work from your own ‘budget’ document – whatever form that takes.

However anxious you may be about impending price rises, there are options; there are changes you can make. If you are ever feeling overwhelmed about all this though, please do get in touch. We will support you however we can.

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email info@solomonsifa.co.uk

BACK TO ALL BLOGS

Updating your spending planJemima Thomas2023-12-01T12:12:45+00:00

WHY LONG TERM INVESTING IS CRUCIAL

TODAY’S BLOG

I came across this article by David Booth, the founder of Dimensional Fund Advisors in the US and I think it fair to say, one of the giants within the investment community. I think he has found a great way of outlining the problem of uncertainty. Whilst the references are American, this doesn’t detract from the message.

WORRIED ABOUT STOCKS? WHY LONG-TERM INVESTING IS CRUCIAL…

We are living in a time of extreme uncertainty and the anxiety that comes along with it. Against the backdrop of war, humanitarian crisis, and economic hardship, it’s natural to wonder what effect these world events will have on our long-term investment performance.

While these challenges certainly warrant our attention and deep concern, they don’t have to be a reason to panic about markets when you’re focused on long-term investing.

Imagine it’s 25 years ago, 1997:

J.K. Rowling just published the first Harry Potter book.
General Motors is releasing the EV1, an electric car with a range of 60 miles.
The internet is in its infancy, Y2K looms, and everyone is worried about the Russian financial crisis.

A stranger offers to tell you what’s going to happen over the course of the next 25 years. Here’s the big question: Would you invest in the stock market knowing the following events were going to happen? And could you stay invested?

Asian contagion
Russian default
Tech collapse
9/11
Stocks’ “lost decade”
Great Recession
Global pandemic
Second Russian default

With everything I just mentioned, what would you have done? Gotten into the market? Gotten out? Increased your equity holdings? Decreased them?

Well, let’s look at what happened.

From January of 1997 to December of 2021, the US stock market returned, on average, 9.8% a year.

A dollar invested at the beginning of the period would be worth about $10.25 at the end of the period.

These returns are very much in line with what returns have been over the history of the stock market. How can that be? The market is doing its job. It’s science.

Investing in markets is uncertain. The role of markets is to price in that uncertainty. There were a lot of negative surprises over the past 25 years, but there were a lot of positive ones as well. The net result was a stock market return that seems very reasonable, even generous. It’s a tribute to human ingenuity that when negative forces pop up, people and companies respond and mobilize to get things back on track.

Human ingenuity created incredible innovations over the past 25 years. Plenty of things went wrong, but plenty of things went right. There’s always opportunity out there. Think about how different life is from the way it was in 1997: the way we work, the way we communicate, the way we live. For example, the gross domestic product of the US in 1997 was $8.6 trillion and grew to $23 trillion in 2021.

I am an eternal optimist, because I believe in people. I have an unshakable faith in human beings’ ability to deal with tough times. In 1997, few would have forecast a nearly 10% average return for the stock market. But that remarkable return was available to anyone who could open an investment account, buy a broad-market portfolio, and let the market do its job.

Investing in the stock market is always uncertain. Uncertainty never goes away. If it did, there wouldn’t be a stock market. It’s because of uncertainty that we have a positive premium when investing in stocks vs. relatively riskless assets. In my opinion, reaping the benefits of the stock market requires being a long-term investor.

By investing in a market portfolio, you’re not trying to figure out which stocks are going to thrive, and which aren’t going to be able to recover. You’re betting on human ingenuity to solve problems.

The pandemic was a big blow to the economy. But people, companies and markets adapt. That’s my worldview. Whatever the next blow we face, I have faith that we will meet the challenge in ways we can’t forecast.

I would never try to predict what might happen in the next 25 years. But I do believe the best investment strategy going forward is to keep in mind the lesson learned from that stranger back in 1997: Don’t panic. Invest for the long term.

Footnotes

In US dollars. S&P 500 Index annual returns 1997–2021. S&P data © 2022 S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global. All rights reserved.
Data presented for the growth of $1 are hypothetical and assume reinvestment of income and no transaction costs or taxes. This value is for educational purposes only and is not indicative of any investment.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Bakery, 2D Edna Road, Raynes Park, London, SW20 8BT

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY | DATA PROTECTION

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Bakery, 2D Edna Road, Raynes Park, London, SW20 8BT

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY | DATA PROTECTION

WHY LONG TERM INVESTING IS CRUCIALJemima Thomas2023-12-01T12:12:47+00:00

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

TODAY’S BLOG

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT…

Believe it or not, the tax year end is not so far away. Tuesday 5^th April looms menacingly on the horizon … how time flies! It seems like only yesterday that we were doing this dance, even though I’m sure that for many of you, the last year has felt like a particularly long and tough one. You can count me among your ranks.

As that time of year approaches, we will be frequently reminding you of the prudence in making the most of your ISA allowances for the current tax year. If you haven’t thought about this yet, please consider this your first call to action!

As a reminder, for the 2021/22 tax year, the allowances are £20,000 (per individual) for subscriptions into ISAs, and £9,000 for subscriptions into Junior ISAs (JISAs).

So that this is less of a pure reminder and somewhat informative, I will let you in on a lesser-known fact about ISAs and JISAs … 16 and 17-year-olds are able to hold both a JISA and an ISA simultaneously.

Not only are they entitled to hold both a JISA and an ISA, they are also entitled to BOTH of the annual allowances that come with them. This means that the amount that can be saved into ISAs on behalf of these teenagers increases from £9,000 per year to £29,000 per year (all tax-free of course).

If you are looking for ways to set more funds aside for your children (or grandchildren), this might be one of the best ways to do it. I know that some of you have utilised this benefit already.

So, whilst we have a little time before April hits us, please make sure that any intended ISA top-ups are made in good time to use up those allowances for the current tax year. We would ask that all tax-year-end-sensitive investments are made by 25^th March 2022.

We are only an email or phone call away if you need any help.

And remember that the kids are alright!

Daniel Liddicott
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on our blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to us about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email info@solomonsifa.co.uk

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Bakery, 2D Edna Road, Raynes Park, London, SW20 8BT

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY | DATA PROTECTION

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Bakery, 2D Edna Road, Raynes Park, London, SW20 8BT

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY | DATA PROTECTION

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHTJemima Thomas2024-02-08T16:46:43+00:00

SLOW AND STEADY…

TODAY’S BLOG

You would think (given that I work for a financial planning firm!) that I would be great at handling my finances. Unfortunately, this is not something I have totally figured out…

I am a 20-something woman, living in and galivanting around London. I like to keep myself busy with events and activities – I love the buzz and vitality of ‘city life’. Whilst I am thoroughly enjoying my time and having some fabulous experiences, I also know that I need to say no sometimes to try and save for my future endeavours … right?

“YOU’RE YOUNG; YOU HAVE SO MUCH TIME; JUST ENJOY IT”

I am constantly torn between living ‘in the moment’, enjoying London whilst I’m here, and also saving for my future lifestyle (my needs and dreams are sure to alter as I get older). I am frequently reminded by anyone remotely older than me, that I am ‘’SO YOUNG, you can do anything, you have no real responsibilities!” – which to me sounds like code for – you have no children or a mortgage so HAVE ALL THE FUN. Which on the one hand makes a great deal of sense, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that living in the moment is all well in good, but thinking about my future is something I mustn’t avoid. Whilst I enjoy hearing from others that I am in a period of my life where being young and free needs to be enjoyed, I still often hear people reflecting saying they wished they’d saved more when they were younger or they wished they had done xyz as well. Hindsight is 20/20 vision of course.

In the last few years, I have started to see friends of roughly my age buying their first home, getting engaged or having children. Whilst of course this is all a matter of perspective based on our individual choices, circumstances, income etc; I can’t help but feel I am now in a hurry to get on and do everything, as well as ‘save’ for ‘future me’. I am told that I have all the time in the world, and yet I feel like I am starting to run out of it at the same time!

tortoise and the hare.solomonsifa.solomons

MY WISE OLD MANAGER …

As I was beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed trying to compartmentalise my financial life whilst enjoying life in the city, my lovely manager Debbie brilliantly guided me to a realisation that saving little by little was possible, and that I needn’t worry about saving huge chunks (I was never able to save huge chunks, but little chunks didn’t seem to be enough in my mind!). She told me that every evening after having whatever fun I was having, I should move money into my savings account so that each night my account balance was left at a round number. I remember laughing and saying that this would make no difference – moving 50p here, £3.80 there … what a long-winded approach! And yet … she was completely right. Soon after starting to do this, I realised that each month I was actually saving! And I was also made to be more mindful at the same time. It didn’t hurt or stop me going out, it was done so subtly that it was easily doable.

It’s taken some time, and I still have moments of forgetting and missing a few days, but I feel I am finally at a place where I can feel comfortable and confident about putting away ‘a little something’.

And already in the new year, I’ve managed to keep saving. Admittedly it’s not a lot – but it’s a start, and I’m proud of what I’ve managed to achieve. It’s a reminder that it doesn’t matter how much it is, slowly I am beginning to create a little pot of gold for my future.

And in much the same way, it is incredibly satisfying for us to see the differences for our clients (which can be phenomenal) that a planned approach (even if ’slow but small’) can bring about … ultimately enabling choice and financial freedom.

Jemima Thomas
Solomons IFA

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Bakery, 2D Edna Road, Raynes Park, London, SW20 8BT

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY | DATA PROTECTION

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Bakery, 2D Edna Road, Raynes Park, London, SW20 8BT

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY | DATA PROTECTION

SLOW AND STEADY…Jemima Thomas2023-12-01T12:12:56+00:00

DON’T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME – A TALE OF A SIMPLE MIND

TODAY’S BLOG

DON’T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME – A TALE OF A SIMPLE MIND

Reminders on my phone are a necessity. This singular function is one that I use to organise my life, attempt to not forget to do things, and often be in the right places at the right times. I truly believe that I would be lost without this very simple tool. However…

Setting yourself reminders is a very manual process – you create them, set the date on which whatever the task is must be completed. Most crucially, it is all too easy to change the due date on these reminders and push them back over what is, inevitably, a multiple-month stretch. If this process were automatic and unchangeable to prevent procrastination (which over the years I have come to believe is something of an art-form) I am sure that I would achieve more, all within a much more reasonable time span. We are creatures of habit, however, the discipline required in the early stages of forming GOOD habits is crucial in maintaining them for the longer term. This got me thinking about automated finances, which is a concept that I have been hearing and reading about a lot during my studies.

AUTOMATE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE

Andy Hart, in his excellent podcast ‘Maven Money’ which I would highly recommend, states that automating your finances is one of the most important things that you can do. This means setting up standing orders or direct debits (whichever is more appropriate for the scenario), in order to ensure that your money goes to the places that you want and need it to go. One of the main focuses of this technique is saving, whether this be for a house, other large projects or emergency funds, though the same technique can be used to help yourself in many other ways – desired monthly pension contributions, for example, is another goal that this technique could be used for.

Not only will you never forget to make these savings/contributions ever again, but you are likely to become even better at budgeting for all other aspects of your lifestyle without these funds even coming into consideration – with the comfort of knowing that these funds have contributed towards achieving your financial goals and strengthening your financial plan.

MONTHLY SAVINGS HAS SOME OTHER ADVANTAGES

Some of you may have already seen our short video that explains pound-cost averaging. In a very clear way, this video explains how there can be a great benefit to making contributions to investments on a monthly basis, essentially meaning that you will always end up paying the average price over a particular period of time rather than being at risk of paying over the odds.

It’s ironic how we often forget the things worth remembering but remember the things worth forgetting. I have included our video above about monthly budgeting and setting up your bank accounts, to help make this entire process much easier.

Daniel Liddicott
Trainee Financial Adviser

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to Dominic about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email info@solomonsifa.co.uk

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Bakery, 2D Edna Road, Raynes Park, London, SW20 8BT

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY | DATA PROTECTION

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Bakery, 2D Edna Road, Raynes Park, London, SW20 8BT

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY | DATA PROTECTION

DON’T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME – A TALE OF A SIMPLE MINDJemima Thomas2023-12-01T12:13:05+00:00

COMPANY CAR? GEAR UP FOR CHANGE…

TODAY’S BLOG

COMPANY CAR? GEAR UP FOR CHANGE..

Do you drive a company car? do you know your NDEC from your WLTP? You now need to.

Emissions, emissions…

For many years, company car tax scales have been based on CO2 emission levels, with a supplement (currently 4%) for most diesels (although a handful of new diesels now escape this surcharge). The emissions were measured under the New European Driving Cycle (NDEC) test, which produced results increasingly at variance with the real world.

In response, a new testing regime has been developed, the World harmonised Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP). Unsurprisingly, this test reveals much higher emission levels than the NDEC – about 15%-20% more, with the greatest increase for cars with the smallest engines.

Company car changes

For company cars registered from 6 April 2020, the WLTP CO2 emission figure will be used in determining company car tax rates. However, for cars registered before that date, the old NDEC measure will continue to apply. As a result, from 2020/21 onwards there will be two sets of company car scales, one WLTP scale for cars registered on or after 6 April 2020 and the other NDEC-based scale for older cars. For any given level of emissions, in 2020/21 the WLTP percentage charge is 2% lower than the NDEC charge, although this difference will be phased out over the following two tax years.

Electric and Hybrid Cars

6 April 2020 will also see a change to the tax treatment of electric and hybrid cars. The charge for all pure electric cars will drop to zero – good news for Tesla – while for hybrid cars with CO2 emissions of 1-50g/km, the scale charge will be based on the vehicle’s electric-only range. For hybrids there will be separate NDEC and WLTP scales, with both offering no discount if the hybrid cannot run at least 30 miles on battery power alone.

Action

The company car tax regime has become much stricter over the years and there is some evidence that more employees are choosing cash rather than car where they have the option. You may want to join them.

If you are due to change your company car soon, make sure you understand the tax consequences of any choice you make. If you are thinking about an electric car and the required charging points at your home or office, the Pod Point website is worth having a look at. They also have a guide that gets fairly regularly updated on different types of electric cars. I haven’t used Pod Point and am not endorsing them (or paid by them) but you may find their information helpful.

Of course if you wish to see the Tesla range….

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Bakery, 2D Edna Road, Raynes Park, London, SW20 8BT

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY | DATA PROTECTION

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Bakery, 2D Edna Road, Raynes Park, London, SW20 8BT

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY | DATA PROTECTION

COMPANY CAR? GEAR UP FOR CHANGE…Dominic2023-12-01T12:13:25+00:00

TOO MANY COOKS

TODAY’S BLOG

TOO MANY COOKS

We have all heard the phrase – “too many cooks spoil the broth” well, I’m not sure it quite applies, but any assessment of the high street restaurant business will likely suggest that there are far too many restaurants. Rather sadly Jamie Oliver’s restaurant empire has had to call in the administrators. The business has been in difficulty for a while and it seems that the sword of Damocles has now fallen.

I’m rather sad about this news. I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but to me, Jamie Oliver always seemed like an honest, decent man, trying to make good and trying to change the lives of his staff, young people and to a greater or lesser extent the eating habits of the UK. I’ve enjoyed dining in many of his restaurants and had some special occasions at Fifteen in London and Cornwall.

What’s on the menu?

The administrators will now attempt to salvage the business, though the restaurant business is particularly fickle with diners generally leaving once there are signs of trouble. It isn’t possible to tell if the business was run well or not, whether it was a sign of the times or over ambitious. We all know that Jamie’s culinary skills are rather good, and his brand is everywhere – or at least wherever cookery books and items are for sale. His fame and subsequent fortune all resulted from the initial “Naked Chef” series.

Running any business can be stressful at times, or even constantly. Running a large restaurant empire where control can quickly evaporate, is a stress that I certainly would not wish to take on. There are very few people that could. Jamie Oliver made a very good go of things, opening Fifteen, his first restaurant in 2002. He is only 44 and it has been an incredible 17 years. Many entrepreneurs can withstand major setbacks, but not all. I do hope that he manages to reflect on his accomplishments rather than the final “failure” once the last orders have finally been taken.

Sadly, lots of jobs are at risk, let’s hope that the administrators can get things back into shape. The Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group Ltd operates 25 restaurants across the UK, including 22 under Jamie’s Italian brand, in addition to Jamie Oliver’s Diner at Gatwick Airport, Barbecoa and Fifteen London.

Bookings at the Jamie Oliver Cookery school have been cancelled, gift vouchers for cookery school or restaurants and Groupon vouchers are being reviewed by the administrators, but in short, it doesn’t look good if you do and the use by date may become rather irrelevant. I for one hope that they manage to turn this around and that Jamie continues his relentless mission to help us all eat better. He has been a genuine inspiration to hundreds of jobless young people starting with his Fifteen restaurant in 2002. I wish him well.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Bakery, 2D Edna Road, Raynes Park, London, SW20 8BT

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY | DATA PROTECTION

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Bakery, 2D Edna Road, Raynes Park, London, SW20 8BT

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY | DATA PROTECTION

TOO MANY COOKSDominic2023-12-01T12:17:24+00:00

OUR APP – MILEAGE TRACKER

Solomons-financial-advisor-wimbledon-blogger

OUR APP MILEAGE TRACKER

The mileage tracker within our app has now been updated and improved. This mainly means that it is now even easier to accurately record your business mileage. You need to make a few adjustments such as turning on the GPS tracker and ensuring your personal details are accurate (an email is sent to you with the trips that you do).

The app is loaded with useful tools, many are aimed at those working and needing to report expenses, but also includes all the details about personal income tax and allowances that are relevant to everyone. There are also some great calculators too. All this is free for you to download and use. It costs us quite a bit to provide this, so please do make use of the app and let others know.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

Email me to get in touch

OUR APP – MILEAGE TRACKERDominic2023-12-01T12:17:46+00:00

HBOS scam, stranger than fiction

Dominic Thomas
Feb 2017 • 4 min read

HBOS scam, stranger than fiction

Yesterday I wrote about Venture Capital Trusts and explained that any business is reliant upon its management. You might recall my use of the new Trainspotting film T2 as an illustration of poorly suited characters for management of any business. If T2 is 20 years on then this must surely be Trainspotting 40 years on…

As is often the case, reality can be stranger than fiction. On 2nd February 2016 there was finally a successful conviction of fraudsters Lynden Scourfield and David Mills. They are guilty of a £245m loans scam. Scourfield was a manager at HBOS, supposedly tasked with helping struggling businesses. He was bribed by David Mills to pressure HBOS business clients to use a business services company called Quayside Corporate Services. Quayside was owned and run by Mills and his wife Alison. Together they set about extracting huge sums in fees from HBOS business clients who were being told that they would lose HBOS support and sources credit finance if they didn’t comply. Many ended up going bankrupt.

Like Characters from Trainspotting…

These three and three others (Mark Dobson, Michael Bancroft and John Cartwright) have finally been sentenced to prison, having spent huge sums on all the typical cliché trappings, all evident in both Trainspotting films. They ruined various businesses, who were trapped within the Bank, who issued fairly standard penalties which evolved into eviction notices with employees of the bank deceiving their own internal systems which then kicked in to the normal processes for how to handle a failing business (which you can imagine). Under pressure people do strange things, and a number of the business owners that were scammed, gave away control and or ownership of their own businesses. However this appears to be largely due to the complexity of the scam and a classic confidence trick, regularly reassuring the HBOS customers that the Bank was agreeing their finance.

Ripped off Businesses that were ruined

This is a deeply disturbing case of a major bank failing to understand that its own staff were scamming its customers. According to reports, the scam may have amounted to around £1bn, although official reports suggest £245m, all over a 4-year period between 2003-2007 (just before the credit crunch). Thankfully the six involved, have been rewarded with a collective 47 years and 9 months in prison. You may recall that HBOS was rescued by Lloyds TSB having notched up £45bn of bad debt and at one point it was reliant on a £25bn lifeline from the Bank of England. Well done Thames Valley Police.

BACK TO ALL BLOGS

HBOS scam, stranger than fictionDominic2024-03-13T10:40:19+00:00

12 Next