News & Thoughts

​Last year the UK government announced significant increases to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW), set to take effect from 1 April 2024. While these changes are intended to support low-paid workers, they also bring about several hidden challenges for businesses that employers must be aware of.

On International Women’s Day, we come together as a collective to support women across the world. This year’s IWD theme is #InvestInWomen, for the simple reason that doing so ensures that we, as a society, flourish. It’s estimated that by closing the gender pay gap, we’d enjoy a 20% increase in GDP per capita, significant by anyone’s standards.

​Diversity, equity and inclusion (EDI) in the workplace is not just a moral obligation – it makes good business sense. As a leading recruiter with over 25 years of experience, I often advise companies on strategies to create an equitable and inclusive work culture that attracts and retains top talent from diverse backgrounds. I recently had the pleasure of running an HR Business Breakfast for 25 HR professionals in Sheffield alongside CMP Legal.

​It’s been more than four years since the first ‘work from home’ calls came, and the face of work changed completely. There’s been a lot to adjust to, and some companies haven’t yet settled on a working format that works for everyone.

​​The Yorkshire Accountancy Awards are fast approaching, and with a fortnight to go, our Director Lucy Regan sat down with Neil Beardsmore, FD of Ice Travel Group, nominated for Finance Director of the Year, to talk through 2023 and find out what he’s looking forwards to in 2024.

​As we get closer to the Yorkshire Accountancy Awards 2024, our Director Kayley Haythornthwaite caught up with Zuzanna Kazimierczak, Financial Controller at Chadwick Lawrence LLP, who’s nominated for the Finance Director of the Year Award, about how her 2023 panned out and what she’s looking forward for as we head into 2024.

​The worst Monday ever? The third Monday of January is well known these days as the most depressing day of the year. As if January wasn’t already bad enough: it’s cold, Christmas is over, we’re all a bit skint and reality is back in full swing. And then, in 2004, psychologist coined the term ‘Blue Monday’ as a PR stunt to sell holidays, and it’s been stuck in our heads ever since. Why has it persisted for so long? It’s likely something to do with the fact it taps into something a lot of us are feeling already.

Christmas and year-end reviews: two things with entirely different moods. How do you deliver that tough feedback in the season of goodwill to all? And does it ever actually do any good?