What is an ex-gratia payment? An ex gratia payment is a payment made by an employer where there is no contractual obligation to do so. Ex gratia translates to 'by favour' and literally means a voluntary payment or a gift. What that means is it's a sum of money paid to an employee by an employer in a situation where the employer is not obligated to do so. Ex gratia payments are gestures of goodwill on behalf of the employer. Such a payment is also referred to as a golden handshake.  These payments are commonly made in a retirement, redundancy and dismissal scenario.  The key feature of an ex gratia payment is that there is no contractual obligation placed on the employer to make it to the employee. Moreover, unlike with statutory redundancy pay, there is no limit on how much an ex gratia payment can be. "Ex gratia translates to 'by favour' and literally means a voluntary payment or a gift." Some examples of ex-gratia payments: British Airways frequently pa...

If you are a business owner, it's important that you are paying your staff correctly. It is a legal requirement after all and you could face hefty fines if you don't comply. Likewise, if you are an employee, it is your absolute right to be paid fairly, so it is something you should be aware of too. "no matter how small your business is, it is a legal requirement to pay your employees correctly" What's the difference between the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the National Living Wage (NLW)? The NMW is the minimum pay per hour that almost all workers are entitled to. It varies depending on the employees age group and whether they're an apprentice. There are a few exceptions such as: Company directors Volunteers Self-employed people running their own business For the full list of exemptions please see the gov.uk website. The NLW is higher than the NMW and workers over 25 years old are entitled to it (changing to 23 years old in April 2021). Understanding the d...

Just a quick one today, but an important one nevertheless. It’s very important to have clear payment terms in your plumbing and heating business. We are in uncertain economic times, therefore I would always recommend that you get paid up front, prior to doing any work for your customers.  "Sending an invoice after the work is done and hoping to be paid isn’t a very successful way to run a business." With the likes of Xero and the CRM’s (customer relationship management) available on the market it’s very easy to produce an invoice on the job or before the job. This really is the only way you can guarantee that you will be paid. Sending an invoice after the work is done and hoping to be paid isn’t a very successful way to run a business. If you feel you may lose a job asking for full payment upfront, then you could present it so they can either pay 50% upfront and the balance at the end OR pay in full up front for a 5% discount. You will find that most people would rather have ...

I think all plumbing and heating businesses should have a marketing strategy. A marketing strategy is everything you need to do in order to get a customer to get in touch. To email you, give you a call, book in a visit. That’s what marketing is. Getting your name out there so potential customers to get in touch. Once a potential customer has got in touch with you, we then move onto the sales side of the business. Everything form that point up to the acceptance of a quote is the sales. For this blog, we’re just going to concentrate on a marketing strategy. Everything you do as a business to get a potential customer to make and enquiry. Firstly, in regards to a strategy we need to start off with, who is your ideal client? An ideal client is defined as the following: ‘Someone who finds the perfect solution to their problems or needs in the services or products that your company provides. The ideal client is loyal to your company, frequently uses or buys your products or services and is li...

As the announcements keep coming and our plans keep having to change, I thought it best to provide you with new information now, rather than waiting until after the Christmas break.  England Local Restrictions Support Grant With parts of England going into Tier 4, the Government have revised the Local Restrictions Support Grant.  What is the Objective? To support businesses, based in Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4 areas, forced to close as a result of a Government decision. What is the level of support? Premises with a rateable value of £15,000 or less may be eligible for a cash grant of £667 for every 14 day period of lockdown. Premises with a rateable value of over £15,000 and less than £51,000 may be eligible for a cash grant of £1,000 for every 14 day period of lockdown. Premises with a rateable value of over £51,000 or above, may be eligible for a cash grant of £1,500 for every 14 day period of lockdown. Each business can obtain a grant for each non-domestic property in the re...

I often get asked the question, “when should I employ someone in my plumbing and heating business?” Frankly, it’s not easy to answer, but hopefully what I’m about to explain in this blog will give you something to work from. "there is no point employing someone if it’s not going to be profitable." First of all, see your business in £100,000 income blocks per year. Broken down monthly £100,000 is £8300 per month. Whenever you’ve got £8300 of recurring labour, month on month, work on your order books, quotes accepted, services booked in, renovation started etc, that would be the time to then seek and employ a new engineer. The reason why I’m saying £100,000 is because there is no point employing someone if it’s not going to be profitable. Let’s say an engineer is payed £30-50,000 per annum. So straight away that’s 50% of that £100,000 gone in wages. You also need to supply that engineer with a van, a CRM system, tools, equipment, t-shirts, insurance, telephone, and all ot...

I hope you are all looking forward to Christmas and the well earned break that I know many of you need. I put my Christmas tree up way too early and it’s looking very sorry for itself. We may be huddling around a needleless tree skeleton on Christmas day! There have been a few Government announcements today which you may or may not be aware of: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Extension (CJRS) It was due to come to an end on 31st March 2021. It has now been extended to the end of April 2021. The Government will continue to meet 80% of the ‘deemed’ salary for the furlough period. Budget Day The UK Budget day will now be on Wednesday, 3rd March 2021. Further Covid-19 support measures will be released then. As a reminder Scotland’s Budget will be announced on Thursday, 28th January 2021. No date has yet been made for the Welsh Budget. Government Backed Loan Schemes Extension Access to the Bounce Back Loans, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Schemes was due to come to an end on ...