[cs_section style=”margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 45px; “][cs_row style=”margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; ” inner_container=”true”][cs_column style=”padding: 0px; ” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″][cs_text text_align=”none”] Christmas is coming …it may only be a few weeks away but there’s hopefully a lot of business to be done before then.

Whilst for us all it should be a time of enjoyment, if you are a business owner it can be a very testing time. You can lose 2-3 weeks of sales income and production time; in truth it doesn’t get going again until the 2nd week of January.

You will  have to pay all the wages while everyone is off and have the additional cost of bank holidays.

The Bills and overheads are still the same , if not worse with staff and customers gifts and to pay the wages when there is no production.

62% of businesses don’t have a plan for dealing with downtime according to research by the Stay Sourced Team.

It is worth taking some time out to realistically work out your requirements.

If cash is tight at the best of times but has been manageable, while your focus has been on sales and managing the team and getting work out, Christmas changes everything.    

Christmas changes everything if you run a manufacturing or related business, the chances are that if you ask the bank to increase the overdraft the answer would be “no”. Or you may receive a huge shopping list of requirements before the bank will even consider its response.

One of our financial partners could help you through this by increasing your facility to help you through to the New Year.

Follow this link or give us a call on 0118 338 1818 to discuss your funding needs.

Stay sourced also stated that UK businesses again appear to have a lack of awareness of the potential financial losses that downtime can cause. A majority of 62% of those surveyed said their workplace did not have a plan for dealing with downtime. Lack of planning costs businesses money; this is clear. But many businesses seem unaware, or potentially unwilling to plan ahead. It’s difficult to see why; planning what will happen over the festive season is a relatively simple process.

27% of people we interviewed said companies should expect to lose money over Christmas, and 31% ranked downtime costs as the biggest cost of the festive season; with a little savvy planning, this needn’t be the case.

Careful consideration of spending, planning ahead, and a heightening of awareness of spending exemptions could potentially help UK businesses save money over Christmas. Whether you own or simply work for a company, we hope this guide has provided some helpful insights and advice around the UK costs of Christmas.

How to keep the team happy, what do they expect ?

Over half of our interviewees said they’d appreciate a gift from their workplace, increasing to 69% in under 35’s, something that’s surely to be expected. At Christmas, people like receiving presents; no biggie. However, only 22% of those interviewed actually received gifts; that’s just over a 5th of all the interviewees, and less than half of those who said they’d like a gift. Its apparent then from the offset that companies are not meeting employee’s expectations.

It’s peculiar that a relatively small percentage of businesses give employees a corporate gift, considering the usage that many corporate gifts get. Of all the professionals that took part in the survey, a huge 89% still used a pen they’d received as a gift from a business at some point. As well as the obvious morale raising aspects of gift giving, presenting employees or clients with corporate gifts could increase company or brand exposure for years to come Rather than being a throwaway Christmas gift, many corporate gifts – mugs and calendars in particular – get repeated usage.

Another notable point is the apparent lack of awareness of UK businesses on the money saving prospects available to them at Christmas. It’s true that the HMRC provides a money back scheme to businesses holding parties or employee events, as long as the company stays within a few simple boundaries. Essentially, if a party is an annual event, is available to all employees – that means no “CEO” or “managers only” parties -, and the amount per head does not exceed £150, then it’s likely that money spent will be able to be reclaimed. However, the average amount spent by UK businesses is £183.40 , a good £33.40 too much to be able to reclaim money back. It’s true that Christmas can be a time of fun and frivolity, and spending by businesses and employees is likely to be met by the cry “what the hell, it’s Christmas!”. This is perhaps influenced by that 34% who think not enough is spent on the Christmas party. But how much is £33.40? If businesses spending this much just cut back a little, then they’d likely make a pretty big saving.

Source :  Stay Sourced team

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Published On: December 1st, 2016 / Categories: Uncategorised /