Horwich Advertiser Issue 628

Page 26 October/November 2025 AD SALES 01204 478812 BUSINESS TO ADVERTISE CALL 01204 478812 £ CHANCELLORRachel Reeves has warned the government is facing difficult choices as the clock counts down to her Autumn Budget. In her keynote speech at Labour’s annual party conference in Liverpool she pledged to keep “taxes, inflation and interest rates as low as possible”. However, there was also a hint that further tax rises may be ahead when she delivers her Budget in November. The chancellor told the conference the govern- ment’s choices had been made “harder” by inter- national events and the “long-term damage” done to the economy. Economists believe she faces a choice of hiking taxes or cutting spend- ing – if she is to meet her self-imposed fiscal rules. If she chooses the first option, the question remains where she will target the increases. The rise in employ- ers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) she announced in her 2024 autumn budged has had the biggest impact on small businesses. The boss of Tesco has also warned the CHORLEY headquartered ful- filmentcrowd has delivered record-breaking growth. The global, tech-driven fulfilment provider saw its revenue surpass £20million for the first time, along with a 27 per cent increase in transactions for the financial year ending March 31, 2025. It also reported an EBITDA of £3.1m, nearly doubling the previous year’s per- formance, and had a significant uplift in international revenues, which now account for over 29 per cent of total group revenue. UK revenues at the business rose to £14.2m, with a 12 per cent increase in order volumes. European operations surged by 42 per cent, reaching £4.7m in revenue while US revenue nearly tripled to £1.1m, driven by British and European brand expansion stateside. The business opened new centres opened in Dublin and Sydney to expand its global footprint to more than 1.5 million sq ft. Earlier this year fulfilmentcrowd secured a major investment from Palatine, a UK mid-market private equity firm. The investment aimed to accelerate expansion across the UK, Europe, the US, and Australia, and to sup- port strategic mergers and acquisi- tion opportunities. Lee Thompson, chief executive at ful- filmentcrowd, said the year ‘has been transformational’. He added: “We’ve proven the strength of our model, the resilience of our team and the global demand for our services. “With Palatine’s backing, we’re poised to scale faster, innovate further and deliver even greater value to our customers worldwide.” Jon Davies, chief financial officer at fulfilmentcrowd, added: “A com- mercially focused approach, alongside efficiencies driven by our proprietary technology system, has supported mar- gin improvement performance in the year across the group. “The board are confident that the actions taken in the year and the recent investment received have set the busi- ness up to execute its growth plan for the forthcoming year, and trading in the early part of the new financial year is outperforming budget.” With a strong balance sheet on March 31, 2025, fulfilmentcrowd had net assets of £12.1m. BURY accountancy, business advisory and financial plan- ning group PM+M has strengthened its commitment to devel- oping talent with the appointment of 10 apprentices. The group, which also has an office in Black- burn, says the new arrivals will work in its specialist teams. In the audit team, Charlie Harrison, Lucy Field, Finley Vila, Ellie Fisher and Richard Prest will be gaining hands-on experience supporting cli- ent audits across a broad range of sectors. With five new apprentices join- ing this year, it marks the largest intake into one single team to date. Reece Jones has joined the accountancy and advisory team, where he will be assisting with the preparation of financial statements and working closely with cli- ents on their report- ing requirements. Uzair Zariwala joins Ten and counting for accountancy firm DIFFICULT CHOICES AHEAD FOR CHANCELLOR REEVES come made all the harder by harsh global head- winds and long-term damage to the econ- omy, which is becoming ever clearer.” In a wide-ranging speech Ms Reeves also vowed to abolish long- term youth unemploy- ment and to invest in British industry. She also urged people to “have faith” in Labour’s agenda. The chancellor con- firmed that every eligi- ble young person who has been on Universal Credit for 18 months without earning or learning will be offered guaranteed paid work through a new ‘Youth Guarantee’. The new initiative aims to build upon exist- ing employment sup- port and sector-based work academies cur- rently being delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions. The scheme forms part of the government’s aim to provide targeted support for young people at risk of long-term unemployment. Responding to the jobs guarantee announce- ment, policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Tina McKenzie, said: “This is a hugely important announcement – offer- ing thousands of young people a crucial chance in life. “Reprioritising spend- ing from employment programmes which aren’t working to this type of scheme is exactly the way to get much-needed bang for taxpayer cash. “It is a welcome com- mitment that – done right – will help small businesses do what they do best, provide jobs in our local communities, and help those who need it most get into work. “Key to getting the details right is making sure there is a backstop offer to those who are now over-25, particularly those with health chal- lenges; that young peo- ple out of work for health reasons are not excluded through misguided dou- ble funding rules; and that small businesses are enabled to play a full role in the delivery of the scheme. “We look forward to working with the Treasury to get the important details of this announcement right, and we hope it heralds a pro-jobs, pro-self-em- ployment, pro-business, pro-growth Budget.” New intake: (L-R) Lucy Field, KateWalsh, Ellie Fisher, Zainab Aswat, Reece Jones, Aisha Bibi Patel, Finley Vila, Uzair Zariwala, Richard Prest, and Charlie Harrison Fulfilling its promise cloud accounting and will be helping clients make the most of technology to streamline their finan- cial processes. Aisha Bibi Patel has joined the tax team where she will be involved in both per- sonal and corporate tax work. All eight appren- tices will be studying towards the Association of Accounting Techni- cians qualification. Across other areas of the business, Zainab Aswat has joined the payroll team, where she will support clients with payroll processing and compliance. Kate Walsh – who first joined PM+M on a temporary basis in May – has now taken up a permanent appren- ticeship in the business support team, focusing on internal operations and client service delivery. Helen Clayton, man- aging partner of PM+M, said: “Each of them impressed us with their drive, ambition and potential during the recruitment process. “At PM+Mwe are pas- sionate about developing people and providing them with the tools to succeed – both personally and professionally.” Jon Davies CFO (left) and Lee Thompson, CEO government against adding extra costs to UK retailers in the upcoming Budget, saying “enough is enough”. Ken Murphy said he did not want to see a repeat of the last Budget, when “the industry incurred sub- stantial additional oper- ating costs”. In her speech Ms Reeves told her audi- ence that she would not take risks with public finances and stressed her commitment to “eco- nomic responsibility”. The chancellor said: “We will face further tests, with choices to A happy portrait of Rachel Reeves MP, Shadow Chancellor Of The Exchequer, Labour Party