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WFC Fulham - What a season!

Seymour Taylor's sponsorship of the ladies football team, WFC Fulham, has helped the club complete a very successful season. On Wednesday the 23 April, Fulham completed its Women's Premier League fixtures with a convincing 5-0 victory over local rivals Reading Royals Ladies FC, having already been confirmed as league champions the week before.

Fulham were relegated from the National division last season following its near extinction when the men's club, Fulham FC, withdrew its support. By winning the Southern division this season it becomes the first side ever to bounce straight back up to the National division.
 

Chairman Geoff Bourne says "this magnificent achievement has been made possible not only by the hard work of the players, management and committee but also by the superb support from our sponsors and in particular our official shirt sponsor Seymour Taylor, Chartered Accountants. Their very generous funding has enabled us to provide quality kit for the girls to play in. We hope Seymour Taylor will continue its valued association with us".

WFC Fulham received the Championship trophy from the Football Association on Wednesday 7 May at its home ground, Burnham FC. The evening also featured the reserve team's final fixture against Brighton Ladies and the club's player of the year awards.

Budget 2008 (Mar 2008)

So what actually happened?

Click here for the Seymour Taylor Budget Report.

And here's a quote from Gary Francis, Senior Partner (who is NOT pictured above):

"As expected a fairly neutral first budget from Mr Darling. Very mixed messages for small businesses. He has said he wants to encourage SME's to develop the entrepreneurial sprit in the UK with help for female entrepreneurs and an increase in the small firms loan scheme.

However, he failed to remind us that SME's are already facing a 3% increase in the rate of corporation tax and the unknown impact of the further bad news of a Capital Gains Tax flat rate of 18% with effect from 6 April 2008."

We can weather the storm (Feb 2008)

More than 200 local business people packed into Adams Park to hear forecasts from a senior economist.

A meeting of economic minds in the Wycombe area last Thursday suggested that the financial outlook for 2008 might not be as gloomy as many feared.

The event, called 'The Chancellor’s Dilemma?' was held at Adams Park, in Hillbottom Road, High Wycombe. It saw representatives from over 200 businesses gather, to listen to speakers, ask questions, and network.

Tony Copsey, CEO of London Wasps, spoke about the financial and sporting evolution of the rugby club, before handing over to Stephen Boyle, a senior economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland. Mr Boyle said he thought Britain was likely to withstand the economic hardships of the coming year, even as the US slipped further toward recession.

The invitation-only event was arranged and supported by RBS, London Wasps, NatWest, Kidd Rapinet Solicitors and Seymour Taylor Chartered Accountants.

Please click here for more on this story.

New Faces!

Like the Mounties, we always get our man. Or in this case, two men!

We have again been active in the 'transfer window' and have recently recruited James Logan and Dario Smith.

(Dimitar Berbatov wanted far too much money and insisted on wearing a hairband)

We are delighted to have these fine recruits on board, and are sure they'll improve our team no end.

Spot the Star

We recently supported a High Wycombe Rotary Club Charity Lunch where Lawrence Dallaglio and Ian Robertson were the guest speakers. It was an extremely successful event with 250 people attending and £6,000 was raised for the rebuilding of Mawella Nursery School in Sri Lanka which was destroyed when the tsunami hit in December 2004.

Seymour Taylor Sponsor WFC Fulham

Seymour Taylor are the shirt sponsors of WFC Fulham – and that's official! Audit partner Mike Marshall received a signed shirt in a presentation ceremony before the match against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday September 16 at Burnham Football Club.

Paul Hayes, accountant of Optima Group alerted Mike Marshall as to the plight of the team which has risen to the challenge of finding funding after the shock announcement last May that Fulham Football Club, the Premiership Club, had withdrawn its financial backing.

Paul's 18-year-old daughter, Emma, plays for the team where the club officers, parents and players have made a determined effort to not only keep the club afloat but to make it a success at the highest level of women's football – the National Women's Premier League.

"When we heard the problems they were experiencing we were keen to help and delighted to see the players wear the shirts featuring our logo. We wish the club every success, they deserve it." said Mike Marshall.

Without the link to Fulham FC the squad could have folded but they bravely carried on, recruited players and rebranded under the name WFC Fulham. Although some of the original squad left the team, first team manager Mark Saunderson and his management team spent the summer scouting fresh talent and have introduced twenty new signings from as far afield as Reading, Chelsea and Charlton Ladies Teams.

Apart from securing sponsorship from Seymour Taylor, Mr Hayes arranged for the team to play in the village where he lives and his own company is a player sponsor to help cover his daughter's playing costs. He said: "We have all been working hard to support this club, it has been a big team effort." Everything is in place for a great season thanks to their tireless efforts securing the use of Burnham FC as a home ground, back-up at Marlow FC and the use of Burnham Grammar School for the reserve team.

"Preparation aside, we have got off to a steady start in our league and cup campaigns and we hope to keep our run of victories going." said Mr Saunderson in the match programme for the match against Brighton & Hove Albion WFC.

The team, known in the media as 'The Whites' took to the field hoping to extend their unbeaten run and to keep yet another clean sheet. It turned out to be a roller coaster ride where the plucky young ladies from Fulham pulled out all the stops and won 6 - 0!

Read more about WFC Fulham by visiting their website at www.fulhamwomenfc.com

New Business Seminar

A Seminar by Seymour Taylor and Reynolds Parry Jones Solicitors was recently held at Wellsbourne Campus for members of the High Wycombe Enterprise Hub.

RPJ spoke to delegates on Business Start Ups, while ST's presentation (by partner Simon Turner) dealt with Business Plans.

For those of you who were unable to attend the seminar, we have the main points of the Seymour Taylor presentation available as a PDF file which you can view or download here.

Lashings World XI vs Wycombe Warriors

Seymour Taylor recently supported the annual charity cricket match held at the London Road ground of High Wycombe Cricket Club. We hosted a table of 10 for lunch in the VIP Marquee. A total of 360 people attended the lunch and charity auction which raised £4,000 for Scannappeal and £4,000 for Cricket in the Community which is a charity organised by Geoff Morgan of HWCC which supports cricket in local schools.

To find out more about Wycombe Warriors, please visit their website at: www.warriorscricket.co.uk

An excellent day was had by all with Lashings World XI beating Wycombe Warriors by 94 runs in a very entertaining 35 over match.

The firm will again be supporting Scannappeal on 25 January 2008 for their Scottish Evening at Wycombe Heights Golf Club.

Don't try this at home...

The success of the television show 'Dancing on Ice' has been a terrific boost for British champion skater Carly Emery who has recently become a skating coach.

Her telephone has been red hot with people keen to take up the sport and learn as much as they can from our talented client who earned a brilliant fourth place in the skating championship rankings last year.

As always the 20-year-old from Downley, High Wycombe is up at dawn and works into the small hours testing out routines for her own tournaments. Now, she spends the rest of the time teaching novices of all ages.

"It is hard work and I get tired being up so early and working ridiculously late. But that is how it is," she says, "Everyone has been very busy since the programme on television. It has put skating on the map and that is a good thing," she said.

Although the viewing public loved watching the likes of Rugby star Kyran Bracken, actress Clare Buckfield and singing heartthrob Duncan James of Blue discovering untapped skating prowess on the television show, Carly explained that many of the routines were technically simplistic.

However she was personally thrilled to witness skating aces Torville and Dean train celebrities for the programme at Slough Ice Rink. The golden couple are still a joy to watch she says and there is much to learn from their technical expertise on and off the screen.

"It was nice to see them in action, they are amazing. Even now, they come up with new and exciting routines and are inspiring." she said.

As Carly's sponsor, we were thrilled to learn she did so well in the British Championships last year. We send our good wishes for another successful season in the run up to the British Skating finals in July.

High Wycombe Sunday Football Combination
Cup Final 2007 (Adams Park)

Seymour Taylor sponsored the recent Combination Cup Final where FC Beaconsfield beat Hithercroft 5-2 in what was a very entertaining game. Matt Brand and Martin Pearce represented Seymour Taylor and presented the trophies, naming Darren Crane as the Man of the Match.

In brief, FC Beaconsfield went 2 up before Hithercroft pulled a goal back then FC Beaconsfield scored again on the stroke of half-time.

FC Beaconsfield had the majority of play in the second half to record a well deserved victory. Goal scorers for them were Nathan Jack, Darren Crane, Mike Robinson, Nick Gibson and Richard Gould. Replying for Hithercroft were Damian Williams and Paul Saders.

Seymour Taylor have been proud to support the High Wycombe Sunday Football Combination for the last six years and wish them well for the future.

A chip off the old block!

Seymour Taylor likes to keep on the ball (Ouch! - Ed) and got some expert coaching recently from professional Rugby star David Seymour, the great grandson of our founder Ernest Seymour! The England 7's star flanker visited our offices and showed the partners & staff the Commonwealth silver medal he won in Melbourne, Australia last year.

He also gave Simon Turner a few hot tips now that our youngest partner has resumed his Rugby career by playing for the Chinnor team which Seymour Taylor sponsors and supports.

Ironically, David who is a 5ft 11in blond bombshell also played for Chinnor as a mini and in his teens before being spotted by a Rugby talent scout who signed him up for Saracens of the Guinness premiership. Apart from the Commonwealth games, he is proud to have played opposite the famous Jonny Wilkinson. The 22 year old is tipped for greatness too and in awe of the Rugby idol whose last minute drop goal won England the World Cup in 2003.

Please click here for more on this story.

The UK economy - Good News!

Businesses can look forward to a colourful period of economic stability and business growth in the coming months according to a leading economist from the Royal Bank of Scotland who addressed over 200 business executives in High Wycombe recently at the invitation of Seymour Taylor and colleagues from Kidd Rapinet Solicitors, Business Advisors from NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

Speaking in the wake of the recent stock market dive, David Fenton, Senior Economic Adviser at The Royal Bank of Scotland Group was optimistic. He even went so far as to say that the future is "red hot" for businesses and families.

He used colourful metaphors to explain a complex subject to a mixed audience of business leaders, business advisors and investors. After detailing the rise of the service industries following the manufacturing slump, the economist, who travelled from Gordon Brown's home town in Scotland, painted a surprisingly rosy picture with "purple patches" of happiness and only a hint of grey clouding the horizon.

So that's alright then.

Please click here for more on this story.

Another shocking Budget from Gordon Brown!

Or maybe not.

When he'd recovered from the excitement, Partner Simon Turner commented:

"For business his big announcement was the reduction in the UK Corporation tax rate from 30% to 28% from April 2008 which is likely to cost up to £3 billion. At the same time, the small companies tax rate will rise in stages to 22%. This will affect the majority of our clients who are SME's.

Capital allowances will be reformed, with a new 20% rate (down from 25%) and a new 10% rate for long life assets (up from 6%). It sounds as though the capital allowance changes will at least partly finance the rate reduction.

Income tax and national insurance thresholds are set to be aligned from 2009, with a threshold for the 40% rate of £43,000. The existing 10% rate is abolished. The basic rate of tax will be reduced from 22% to 20% from 2008 - which was a big surprise.

As always with Mr Brown's budgets we will have to wait to look at the fine details to really see how it will affect us all."

Please click here to view a more comprehensive Budget Report.

The most fun you can have with a red nose on.

This completely unrehearsed and natural photo single-handedly dispels the myth that accountancy staff can be a tad on the boring side.

Normal news will be resumed as soon as possible, but in the meantime it's nice to have a little Comic Relief.

If you haven't already done so, please send in your 2006 Tax Return!

The deadline date was 31st January, so it's now late and you could be facing a penalty charge. If you have a problem with getting your Tax Return done, please talk to us asap.

Seymour Taylor Join the High Wycombe Enterprise Hub

Wycombe's very own Dragon's Den! Well, not quite.

The High Wycombe Enterprise Hub has been established to help "high-tech and knowledge-based ideas become thriving commercial concerns."

So if you have a business start-up, or are looking to expand, the Hub may be able to help you with finding expert advice, useful contacts, funding and so on.

Not as entertaining as going into an old warehouse and having your ideas trashed by rich people, but probably a lot more practical use.

Find out more by visiting www.wycombehub.co.uk