Issue #72 - Autumn Statement 2023 👍 or 👎

VOTE! Was the Autumn Statement good for backbone businesses? | Get set for Small Business Saturday | Keep your customers safe online | The Pup-Up Cafe gets festive | Words | Tunes | More

Nov 23, 2023

Welcome to Issue #72 of The Backbone - the fortnightly newsletter from Bionic.

The 2023 Autumn Statement was all about tackling inflation and growing the economy. And with “110 growth measures” designed to turbocharger economic growth, it had to be good news for businesses, right?

Sky News has reported that “from the white vans of the self-employed to the diggers and cranes of industry, there is plenty for the drivers of the economy to welcome in a package of 110 "pro-growth" measures, many of them tax breaks.”

On the face of it, the changes to “Class 2” and “Class 4” National Insurance should cut the amount that many self-employed workers contribute. And making full capital expensing permanent means that every £1 a company invests in IT, plant or machinery can be deducted in full from taxable profits.

That covers the self-employed and industry, but what about those in between - Britain’s backbone businesses? The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure business rates relief scheme will give some breathing space to businesses in those industries. The freezing of the small business multiplier will benefit a whole raft of businesses in properties with a rateable value of less than £51,000.

But there’s been no talk of further support with energy bills when the Energy Bills Discount Scheme ends in March (although we’ve just had another price cap announcement, remember that this is just for domestic energy contracts).

And the increase in the living wage could squeeze even more businesses. Of course, it’s important that employees are paid a living wage, but in a climate where the cost of everything is going up (don’t be fooled by falling inflation rates, prices are still rising, just more slowly) it’s a real balancing act for those businesses that don’t have the luxury of big profits to fall back on when cashflow is tight.

If you’ve not managed to catch up on the news, we sent out a special issue of The Backbone on Wednesday, and everything you need to know is also in this guide.

Once you’re clear on all the points that relate to your business, we’d love you to vote in our poll so we can get an idea of how backbone business owners feel about the announcements.

❌ VOTE 👇

And, because Christmas is coming (it’s December before the next issue’s out)…

🗯 COMMUNITY

Exclusive access to the Small Business Hub 🗣

Small business owners are the superheroes of the high street. But small business owners rarely get their voices heard. Now there’s a place where they can chat, share advice and help each other through the lows and highs of running a business. To get involved, we just need your business email address (we won’t use it for anything else) and we’ll send you an invite.

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🗞 READ

Get set for Small Business Saturday 🛍

Small Business Saturday UK is a grassroots, non-commercial awareness campaign designed to encourage people to 'shop local' and support small businesses in their communities.

Here’s how you can get involved to spread the word about local businesses ahead of Small Business Saturday on December 2.

Get set for Small Business Saturday

How your business can offer safe online shopping 🔒

Selling your goods or services online can be a relatively quick and easy way to get more customers and make more money. But it can also make your business more vulnerable to hackers and expose your business to scammers from all over the world.

Here’s how to offer your customers a safe online shopping experience for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the festive shopping season, and beyond.

Keep your customers safe online

📨 SUBSCRIBE

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🗣 SHOUTOUT

#BionicBusinessStory - Pup-Up Cafe gets festive 🎄

Bionic got Christmassy with The Pup-Up Café owner Marcus Ackford. We found out about the extra festive doggy events they’re putting on throughout December and how they’re coping with the cost of living crisis but still attracting new customers.

Bionic: How did you come up with the idea for a Christmas-themed Pup Up Cafe event?

Marcus Ackford: I’d love to say there’s a big, special reason we decided to do the Christmas events, but it’s just that we love Christmas! There are so many outfits for dogs around Christmas time and we love seeing them running around all dressed up. We did a Christmas event in our first year, back in 2018, and it was a ‘Dashing Dachshund’ event.

B: Do the Christmas events take more planning?

MA: Yeah, we ordered lots of additional props. I’d say Christmas is the biggest of all our events, so we really go all out, we have sleighs and big Santas, the lot!

B: How important is the community to you as a business owner?

MA: The community aspect is really nice, we have lots of owners who used to come on their own with their dogs but have now made friends at our events, so they now come together as a big group. They’ll meet up separately and go on dog walks. It’s so nice to encourage things like that. Or we have people who used to come to events without dogs but now have their own that they bring along.

B: How is the cost of living crisis affecting your business?

MA: We’ve had to change a few things over the last year. We now have to really think about supplier costs, because if they put their prices up then we have to as well. We always have to work hard to save as much as possible. We had to change the supplier we’d been using for our puppuccinos recently because they’d raised their prices. It’s sad because we’d been using them for years, but it just comes down to cost.

B: Are you pleased with how your business has developed over the years?

MA: Except for Covid, we’ve seen pretty steady growth since we started. Obviously, with the cost of living increasing this year, we’ve seen a slight drop in people coming to events. I think experiences are always one of the first things to go, which is sad because it’s great for people to go and do something they enjoy to get away from their stresses. But bills come first.

Head over to Bionic to read more from this small business story.

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🦾 BIONIC

Bionic - the business price comparison expert - compares a range of business essentials to help you save time, money, and hassle.

Our tech-enabled team will answer all your questions in simple terms, and help you find the best deal on business energy, insurance, phone, broadband, or finance. No jargon. No-fuss. #BeABionicBusiness 🦾

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We helped Mel Lockett lock energy rates for another three years 🔒

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Playlist 🎶

There’s nothing quite like finding a new band that knocks your socks off. Even better when that band puts you onto a load of other new bands that knock your socks off all over again. That’s happened to use twice in the last few months with The Dream Machine and Loose Articles, who are both on this playlist with other psych and post-punk-inspired new bands.

Podcast 🎙

The workplace keeps changing and you need to keep up, whether you manage a corner shop or a huge conglomerate. Boss Class from the Economist explains how the best bosses create systems for solving problems old and new—from navigating working-from-home demands to hiring the right people, from running good meetings to managing themselves. And it’s really not as boring as we may have made it sound.

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