Ray Stewart

In The Midst Of Life – We Are In Death

Ray — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:04:32 +0000

I heard this many, many years ago at a relative's funeral and never really understood what it meant. I thought it was just a crusty old vicar being bitter. However, when we lost our son Simon in 1991, it took on a sinister meaning for me - everyone else just carried on as normal with no apparant regard for our little family unit suffering such grief and turmoil. It took us some years to climb out of that hole. But this time honored phrase has taken on a new meaning over the last few days once again

Tax & VAT Fee Insurance Is ESSENTIAL For All Businesses

Ray — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:56:32 +0000

I know I have mentioned this a couple of times before but it still annoys me the number of clients that either refuse to pay out the £100 per year or so for the cover, or justify their non-action by thinking "it will never happen to me". Since April 2009 the investigation regime has changed. There were few trumpets and dancing girls to announce the change and consquently, 99% of business people have no idea things have changed and what it might mean for them. HM Revenue & Customs are catching up to the 21st century

Barclays – Don’t Want Me To Go!

Ray — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:54:50 +0000

It is nearly two months now since I opened a new business bank account with HSBC and wrote to Barclays to close the account and transfer the direct debits etc. Well, after hearing nothing at all from them until last Friday, 5th June) the letter I received made me really angry. They were writing to charge me £35 because they couldn't transfer the weekly amount into my wife's account (because she had shut it the previous weekend - and her experience in doing that is another whole post in itself).

VAT – Fuel Scale Charge

Ray — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:37:31 +0000

I have noticed recently a worrying trend for clients not to apply the fuel scale charge to their books before they finalize the VAT Return. When asked about this the reasons vary from - “Oh - I Forgot” to “We haven’t had a VAT visit for 10 years so we have probably dropped below the radar”.

No More Cheques!

Ray — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:24:43 +0000

I recently made a policy decision to not accept cheques any more. Most retailers have gone this way with shoppers/clients preferring to use their debit/credit cards instead (including me!). I have got to the point of simply expecting every business to accept credit/debit cards and am now somewhat suspicious of any business I come across that doesn't. I have a chip and pin machine in the office now and this is proving popular both with people calling in to use their card, or just ringing up with the details and paying that way.

My New Shopping Cart Has Autoresponder Service Built In

Ray — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:20:42 +0000

You will have noticed a steady stream of jiggling going on with this site of late. Different themes, different front page content, different allsorts! I can't really apologize because overall, it is in the site's, and our own, best interests. I am moving to a membership site as things develop. Don't worry, it will still be free as always,

Change Is All Around…

Ray — Thu, 14 May 2009 10:34:23 +0000

Change is certainly surrounding me at the moment. It was a big step for me to allow a web expert to take over the updates to this website and look after the essential Search Engine optimization bits and bobs. Sadly though, after just a couple of months, I received an email to say he was giving up his business for personal reasons which remained un-explained. So I have to take this back myself again.

I Have Just Had A Brilliant Day!

Ray — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:51:38 +0000

Yesterday was just one of those days where everything went right. Do you know the sort of day I mean? They don’t happen very often but occasionally, once in a while, everything just falls into place and life feels good. It started with a two hour long meeting with my new business bank manager. No, Barclays haven’t [...]

Online Bookkeeping Sites – How Would You Choose One?

Ray — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:48:11 +0000

Over the past couple of weeks I have been looking into on-line bookkeeping sites for a client of mine. I first did this exercise 3 years ago when the choices were limited and the services on offer were very basic. I have been seriously impressed this time though. The sites have matured beyond recognition and the services [...]

The Truth and Lies about SEO

Ray — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:06:24 +0000

This is a guest post by my friend Louisa Nardini. I hope you find it as interesting as I have. Since the introduction of search engines SEO – or search engine optimisation – has been seen as one of internet marketing’s dark arts. The skill of optimising a website or webpage in such a way that it [...]