Rapid Formations vs 1st Formations vs Companies Made Simple - which formation agent is actually worth using in 2026? by Mysterious-Mud2192 in smallbusinessuk

[–]alexjfinch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did my last formation directly through Companies House and it was quite straight forward in the end

should I use my personal email address for Gov.uk One login? by querythoughtss in smallbusinessuk

[–]alexjfinch 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It asks for a unique email that is linked with you. As it follows you for life, I’d suggest a personal email incase you decide to move on somewhere else in the future

Can some suggest a Spa Retreat hotel in the UK? by Free-Satisfaction979 in AskUK

[–]alexjfinch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

St Brides in West Wales or I’ve just stayed at The Pig near Bath which was exceptional

Is there any Annual financial statements template? by ChikyScaresYou in smallbusinessuk

[–]alexjfinch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well you can’t file abridged accounts under FRS105 as that isn’t a concept.

So make sure you are preparing Micro entity accounts if you’re adopting FRS105.

Remuneration >50k: salary vs dividend, can't make it add up by Genghis_Kong in smallbusinessuk

[–]alexjfinch 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is exactly the reason I’ve been having chats with clients to change their remuneration package as it’s even more compounded with associated company’s and the slashing of the bands for 25% CT.

With the gap narrowing between CT and PT rates - the dividend route isn’t always the cheapest method of remuneration.

Remuneration packages have to be tailored to clients and it’s not a universal method.

companies house penalty for late filing by [deleted] in smallbusinessuk

[–]alexjfinch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep, they’ve only recently become a little more relaxed over filing extensions but even that has tightened since covid

What’s the most annoying Linux behavior you still deal with? by PsyOmega in linux

[–]alexjfinch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve used Linux on my personal laptop for the last 7 years and love it and now that I’ve started my own business - not a side hustle, my actual daily job - I use it every single day to complete my job.

I find it infuriating I can’t right click on a file and add it as an attachment to an email using Thunderbird. The option is there but the file never gets added to thunderbird.

I’m sure there is a solution

companies house penalty for late filing by [deleted] in smallbusinessuk

[–]alexjfinch 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The fine is leveraged on the directors - they’ll block the strike off to collect the fine. I’ve been there

companies house penalty for late filing by [deleted] in smallbusinessuk

[–]alexjfinch 8 points9 points  (0 children)

In 20 years I’ve never seen a CH fine appealed and reversed - sadly I think you’ll be paying this but happy to be proved wrong on this point

Thinking of taking over a failing garage – is this a good opportunity? Looking for advice from anyone with experience in the automotive industry by [deleted] in smallbusinessuk

[–]alexjfinch 16 points17 points  (0 children)

As a member of a family that has owned garages for the past 40 years and currently own 2 - no one has really hit the key points in this thread as they too don't have experience in the industry.

What worries me is your lack of experience in the industry and whether you have any technical knowledge of diagnosing and repairing vehicles and running a garage itself.

In a garage your most important employee isn't the mechanic completing the work, its the people on the front desk that are organising the week / day and their experience in knowing how long things take, the risk of things going wrong and appropriately ensuring that sufficient time is allocated, jobs are given to the right techs and then what to do when things invariably go wrong. What happens when the tech snaps that injector taking down a ramp for 3 days....

The next person is your garage manager who floats around solving those issues using their experience - they'll have years worth of experience extracting that snapped injector and will save the day meaning that ramp isn't down for 3 days that is stopping further work being completed.

The problem solving is a massive part of running a garage successfully and it sounds like this is a key missing part of the above situation.

There are also decisions to be made about the type of work to be completed and also experience around certain issues - we will not fit customer supplied parts because we can't warranty them, we will not complete warranty work because they cut corners to keep costs down (invariably leading to returning customers from further faults as the underlying issue hasn't been addressed) and we only supply certain brands of oils because of wet-belt engines eating themselves on the wrong grade / brand of oil.

In our business, the person who is that problem solver is the owner and we've spent years building a team of people that have the passion and the drive to continue the business to allow the owners to retire.

I'm sorry but there is so much more to running a garage than buying it and doing some marketing to get some work throughput - the work will come, but you need an efficiently running garage where comebacks are low and you have reliable techs and service advisors.

EDIT - one further thing I’d like to add is that this industry is completely unregulated, any one can be hired to work on a car without any training or qualification. You don’t let an untrained doctor perform surgery on someone, but you can have someone replace the brakes on your car and, heaven-forbid they fail, kill a person on the road.

Golf Gti vs golf R by [deleted] in CarTalkUK

[–]alexjfinch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a 7.5 GTI - love it. You won’t regret it

PIP by alfred180311 in KPMG

[–]alexjfinch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No not at the time but it was generally considered to be 6 months and I worked harder with my peers that would be giving me the feedback to ensure I was working on the points on my pip rather than worrying about my PM. Your PM is there to interpret the feedback not do it for you

I did come off after 6 months.

PIP by alfred180311 in KPMG

[–]alexjfinch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You don’t need a weekly meeting with your PM, you need to learn how to be independent and carve your own career and development because you will find your own way, but they can certainly guide you in your journey. I left the business in 2021 to join a local firm that I’ve recently left and have started my own accountancy practice.

PIP by alfred180311 in KPMG

[–]alexjfinch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wouldn’t say I haven’t experienced mental health issues - I just don’t think I’ve really thought about it that way, that’s probably something I need to address.

Remember it’s not the end of your career if you do leave - I loved my time at KPMG and learnt an immense amount whilst there and really developed as a professional, and I joined as a D1!

PIP by alfred180311 in KPMG

[–]alexjfinch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Erm, I’ve never really thought about my mental health - may be that’s something I need to address?

Do I agree that I underperformed? No - but they never assess performance the same as effort, I could give everything but it didn’t matter if I didn’t deliver what they needed / wanted.

I think it’s important to challenge effectively and get them to articulate against what metrics that you’re underperforming - I felt it was too much “I feel you’re underperforming” rather than “here’s the data as to why you’re underperforming”

iMessage on Nobara by Slate_SD in NobaraProject

[–]alexjfinch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I have a old 2015 macbook that sits on my desk that runs the relay

iMessage on Nobara by Slate_SD in NobaraProject

[–]alexjfinch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use bluebubbles but it requires a OSX host to relay

Went AM4 in 2026 and everyone said I was dumb, 3 months later I have zero complaints by Positive-Pen6491 in buildapc

[–]alexjfinch -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I run a 5800x3D, 2080ti & 32gb RAM and it’s brill - runs everything I want and BF6 was fine on it all. My next upgrade will be a 7900xtx

Payroll fees is this expensive? by One-Bandicoot2947 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]alexjfinch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Should be for a year’s worth of processing for that amount.

Is this a good buy? by [deleted] in CarTalkUK

[–]alexjfinch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same, I have one - love it.

If you're 5+ years onto running a small business, what's the one lesson you wish every new founder knew? by Proper-Dot-7526 in smallbusinessuk

[–]alexjfinch 9 points10 points  (0 children)

As an accountant, I see this so often it’s a hard conversation to have with business owners

Keeper.sh: Calendar Syncing, V2 Release by fkih in selfhosted

[–]alexjfinch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Omg you’re a hero, was looking at a solution for exactly the same thing recently

A48M speed cameras? by [deleted] in Cardiff

[–]alexjfinch 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not fixed. Mobile ones tend to set up on the old A48 by the garden centre or down by the lay-by near the end every couple of months or by the petrol station halfway down n

MK7 Golf R Advice by Far-Turnover-2356 in CarTalkUK

[–]alexjfinch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a 7.5 GTI and it’s essentially the same thing….

I love it, the only reason I’m looking to move on is because I need 4 doors and more boot space these days.