Green `Oscars` stack up for Stirk House

AUTUMN 2013
hospitalityupdate
A hospitality sector publication brought to you by Moore and Smalley Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors
Green ‘Oscars’ stack up
for Stirk House
An historic manor house hotel in
Lancashire has scooped an array
of accolades for its innovative
environmental initiatives.
Stirk House Hotel near Clitheroe won the
Sustainable Business Award for SMEs category
in the 2012 Lancashire Business Environment
Awards, while head chef Chris Dobson was
shortlisted for the Environmental Champion
section.
This followed the Community Responsibility
for Small Companies award at the 2011
event, in recognition of the hotel’s pioneering
conservation work with the World Owl Trust
(WOT).
Owner, Paul Caddy and his team have not sat
back – they also took the runner up position
in the Green Tourism category at the 2012
Lancashire Green Awards and are continuing
to drive their low carbon agenda on a number
of fronts.
Judith Dugdale, Moore and Smalley with Paul Caddy, Stirk House Hotel
“We firmly believe in the importance of
sustainability and are fully committed to
implementing it throughout our business,”
said Paul.
A close relationship with WOT has resulted
in the hotel’s 20 acres of grounds becoming
a wildlife haven. Paul and his team have
listed 15 mammal and 49 bird species in the
grounds and encourage guests and the public –
including school visits – to use a wildlife hide.
‘Five-star bee hotels’ designed to help
the country’s increasingly threatened bee
population, are an especially innovative project.
Paul said: “The bee hotels offer us a unique
selling point for sustainability. It’s a great
way to get guests and the public interested in
biodiversity issues.”
To broaden its environmental commitment,
Stirk House Hotel has enlisted the services of
sustainability specialists M4C to develop a low
carbon policy.
“This policy outlines our commitments and
ensures sustainability is incorporated into
our day-to-day operations.” said Paul. “We
have also worked with Groundwork Pennine
Lancashire, who carried out surveys on our
energy use, waste and water. We have used
their findings to continue our improvement.”
Engaging with staff is pivotal to the success
of the hotel’s green agenda. As the hotel’s
environmental champion, head chef Chris
Dobson is responsible for ensuring colleagues
are fully aware of all sustainability objectives
and activities.
Paul commented: “We encourage staff to think
about opportunities to save energy during their
day-to-day activity and have developed an
effective strategy to reduce, reuse and recycle
waste.”
As a result, Paul and his team have decreased
non-recyclable waste by over 65 per cent in a
12 month period, saving £140 per week.
The hotel is also minimising water consumption.
Savings from curtailing the use of bottled water
are estimated at £2,800 annually, plus £540
from reduced disposal and recycling costs.
In addition, the hotel is receiving financial
advice from Moore and Smalley on the
potential use of bio-mass to produce heat
from wood shavings or pellets in a special low
carbon heating system.
Paul said: “Moore and Smalley have always
taken a community-minded approach to
helping us on corporate social responsibility
issues, as well as acting effectively as our
trusted business advisers. We greatly value their
support and look forward to continuing working
with them.”
Social media and online
marketing top tips
Facebook. Twitter. YouTube.
TripAdvisor. The internet and social
media has transformed how hotels
communicate with their customers.
But tread carefully; selling your brand
story to an online audience requires
strategic thought, planning and the
right tools and platforms to host your
content.
Emma Booth from Freshfield gives her top
tips on how to make the most of the digital
revolution.
It’s all about reputation
Social media is like word of mouth on
steroids. Platforms such as TripAdvisor
determine where people should visit. If you
aren’t online, how do you know what people
are saying? More importantly how can you
demonstrate that if there is an issue you are
quick to sort it out?
Encourage happy customers, online
platforms allow a brand to increase loyalty
by rewarding those who are positive about
their stay and experience.
Having a presence online and listening to
what your guests and potential guests are
saying should form part of any marketing
strategy, not only does it provide good
market intelligence, it is helpful to learn what
you do well and what you need to work on.
Industry must keep pace with how consumers
use technology. The leisure industry was
quick to pick up on the use of social media,
but its ever-changing landscape needs to be
understood and integrated into your overall
marketing plan.
Invest in getting it right
Listen to what our audience and competitors
are saying first! Monitor conversations and
style of content on differing platforms.
Carry out competitor analysis to identify
where you are and how others around
you are performing – this is great for
benchmarking.
Ensure you have the resources to act fast to
negativity, remembering social media never
sleeps!
Have a crisis plan and make sure everyone
from your marketing team to your
receptionist understands your brand values
and messages.
Consider outsourcing or in-house training to
guarantee you have a consistent voice online.
Content is king
New social media algorithms mean bland
news doesn’t get seen. Make sure your
content is strong.
Success in social media depends on
community (the people you communicate
with), content (what you tell them) and
conversation (how they respond, and whether
they share your content). It isn’t just a tool for
broadcasting your news and views.
Putting a content marketing strategy in place
will ensure your strategy is executed correctly
and identifying what you want to achieve will
help deliver results.
hospitality update
Be visual – people are far more receptive to
visual content than they are to written text. Be
clever and tell them your story with images
and videos, strong visual content is more
likely to be shared with others.
Hot topics – tune into what people are talking
about online such as the latest celebrity
mishap, seasonal event or interesting story, it
can provide great opportunities to speak to
new customers.
Incentivise – businesses which offer regular
competitions, reward points for advocates
online or easier ways to book rooms/tables,
give new customers a reason to engage and
regular customers a reason to come back.
Emma can be contacted on 01772 888400.
How to comply with new
RTI rules
The urgent need to get to grips with
Real Time Information (RTI) reporting
was highlighted by our recent online
survey. It revealed that more than two
thirds of businesses are simply not
ready for the biggest payroll shakeup
since PAYE was introduced in 1944.
Until now, PAYE reporting has been an
annual task carried out around May, at
the end of the tax year. But since April,
employers have had to report pay, tax and
national insurance contributions (NICs) to
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) every
pay day.
Fines for late filing
Employers failing to do so will be hit by
penalties expected to start at £100 for every
default. Late-filing penalties will apply to
each PAYE scheme, with the size of the
penalty based on the number of employees
in the scheme. This means different-sized
penalties will apply to micro, small, medium
and large employers.
Three top tips
The new regime is currently being phased
in and will become compulsory for all
employers by October 2013. HMRC is
expected to take a lenient line during the
early days of RTI, but experience suggests
that sooner or later the tax authorities’
patience will start to wear thin.
1.
Your first priority must be paying your staff correctly and on time – so make sure you
thoroughly understand what RTI requires of your business and the implications for your payroll
processes
2.
Take the time to ensure the information you hold about your staff is 100 per cent accurate.
HMRC estimates that incorrect employee information accounts for 80 per cent of data quality
issues. For instance, 2,000 people have an NI number of AB123456 and 40 are over 200
hundred years old.
So it’s vital from the outset to set aside
appropriate management resources to make
sure accurate RTI reporting is implemented
and maintained.
3.
Make your people understand that providing you with accurate personal information is
as important to them as it is to you. Tell them that this will ensure their take-home pay is
calculated effectively – and avoid hiccups or glitches.
A useful source of information is the HMRC
website, which will enable you to understand
the requirements for your particular business
and work out a plan of action.
Get the right software
Business that are using a standard software
package should speak to the support
desk. Using a payroll package designed
and supported by Sage is an efficient way
of managing the new requirements. All
businesses using supported versions of Sage
Payroll can implement full RTI with all the
back-up they need.
It is also important to consider that employers
must ensure the data they submit is accurate.
If they don’t, employees could end up not
receiving the correct amount of Universal
Credit, or attracting unwelcome attention
from HMRC relating to personal data issues,
tax deductions and benefit issues.
In addition, RTI means HMRC can see how
much PAYE it is owed at any given time,
which may eventually result in employers
being pursued at a much earlier stage than
under the old system.
Businesses struggling with RTI reporting can
get help by contacting our outsourced payroll
bureau services at:
www.mooreandsmalley.co.uk/services/payrollsolutions .
Contact
Margaret Merrifield
Payroll services manager
01524 388 719
margaret.merrifield@mooreandsmalley.co.uk
www.mooreandsmalley.co.uk
VAT update for Hoteliers
Some may think that VAT on hotel supplies is
straightforward but it most certainly isn’t! In
this article I set out confirmation on how to
charge VAT for different supplies following
some recent changes.
Deposits on accommodation
VAT should be applied at the standard rate
for deposits on all accommodation sales.
This should be accounted for at the time
the deposit is received not when the stay
occurs. Most hoteliers know this by now as
HM Revenue and Customs have been keen
to check during compliance visits. However,
if the advanced payment taken at the time
of booking includes a cancellation charge
then this receipt isn’t subject to VAT at the
standard rate. Therefore by adjusting the
description of the advanced monies (whilst
ensuring your Terms and Conditions are
up to date) you can avoid paying VAT on
advance monies, and only pay VAT when
the stay actually happens.
Wedding deposits
VAT on delegate packages
Following a European Court of Justice case
there is potential that advance payments for
weddings may not be subject to VAT. If the
wedding deposit is for a specific date and
non-transferable or refundable there is a
possibility that you can claim the VAT on the
deposit back if the wedding is cancelled. If
you call the monies received an “advance
payment” and state that the cancellation
charge is equal to the advance fee then
potentially no VAT is due until the wedding
occurs - assuming of course the money
received in advance is really not refundable.
This is a contentious issue with HMRC, so we
recommend you seek professional advice
before proceeding.
If you provide a rate for conferences
which includes room hire, catering and
accommodation then each element should
be separately noted and VAT charged on
the catering and accommodation. The room
hire is exempt.
VAT on conference hire
If you hire out a room for a meeting or
a conference and there is no significant
catering (tea/coffee, biscuits and pastries are
considered incidental) then there is no VAT
on the room. If there is catering (whether
provided by the hotel or a third party) then
the room hire becomes a standard rated
supply.
VAT on civil ceremony room hire
If you provide a room for civil ceremonies
and you separately itemise the cost for this,
and indeed people could book this room on
its own, then the room hire is exempt from
VAT. If this room is “dressed” by the hotel for
each and every wedding in a different way
then the provision of the room is classed as
a service and VAT must be charged at the
standard rate.
NB - please note that if the hotel building
has an option to tax then all room hire is
standard rated irrelevant of its purpose.
Contact
Judith Dugdale
Director
01772 821021
judith.dugdale@mooreandsmalley.co.uk
Your specialist team
Judith Dugdale
Margaret Merrifield
Paul Bennett
Colin Johnson
Payroll services manager
Corporate finance manager
Partner
Director
margaret.merrifield@mooreandsmalley.co.uk
paul.bennett@mooreandsmalley.co.uk
colin.johnson@mooreandsmalley.co.uk
judith.dugdale@mooreandsmalley.co.uk
Rachel Marsdin
Tax partner
rachel.marsdin@mooreandsmalley.co.uk
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