Cat know-how

Will a new scheme to get more sick staff back to work quicker really be useful? Andrew Moore analyses the issue

John Genge examines the whys and wherefores of efficient stock management and you won’t need a PhD to get the hang of it. It isn’t a complex science and no university degrees are needed but, managing stock to maximise sales, minimise stock loss and manage within working capital budgets does require a little planning and discipline

Commercial leasing contracts are notoriously difficult to end. Steven Sidkin reads through the small print. How often do companies read the contracts they sign? In one case, a few years ago, a company began leasing a tyre fitting machine and balancer on a five-year term. The advantage to it doing so lay in what appeared to be a reasonably lucrative return in the margin that could be made on tyres, which were also to be supplied

New technology, new refrigerants and a whole new convention dedicated to the sector: Mike Owen talks air conditioning and how you can work it

John Genge offers advice on what to do to avoid panic and pessimism when one of the ‘big box’ factors opens on your patch

There comes a time in an independent trader’s life when they might want to retire. Mike Owen talks you through how to do it without losing out

Adam Bernstein looks beyond the garage associations to other sources of useful advice and information you may not previously have considered.

Mike Owen answers aftermarket questions about how to retain staff, protect the public from dangerous vehicles and keep on top of new diagnostic tools

John Genge explains the finer points of getting customers to spend more without them feeling like they’ve paid over the odds

Working out what to claim and what not to claim can be like walking on a tightrope with potentially painful consequences if you slip. Tax can be an absolute minefield and ensuring that the correct income is declared is vital. However, the matter of what can be expensed is open to interpretation and misunderstanding. On the one hand you don’t want to miss out on valuable reliefs, yet on the other, you’ll not want to mistakenly claim for something that isn’t allowable and possibly give HMRC an excuse to conduct an investigation into your affairs