POINTED my Audi northwards today, towards Chesterfield.

In company with our new sales director Paul Webb, we were off to talk to Auto Windscreens, the replacement glass company about some future proposals for the magazine.

So with satnav plumbed in, heated seats on, we set off for the three hour journey - to be honest, a delight in the big Audi A6. It's comfortable and relaxed. Although the lack of storage areas is a careless omission. It's ok for one with its cup holders and so on; but with two in the car the lack of storage becomes noticeable.

This aside, Paul confessed that he liked big Audis. Paul, who also works for Professional Driver magazine, the magazine for chauffeurs and executive car hire firms also added. "I'm surprised Audi don't do more with the A6 in the chauffeur market. It would be ideal.

"I tell you what, they currently do a cracking deal on the Audi A6 Le Mans Edition - a £349 a month contract hire deal. I'm going with the Professional Driver publisher to have a look at that."

I'm sure he won't be disappointed - especially with the additional kit featuring on the Le Mans edition. One of the things that really impressed me today was the A6 TDIe's fuel economy - I got 53.3mpg on the run, which is absolutely bang on its official fuel consumption. That's terrific for such a big, luxury executive car.

It's been a long time since I was last at Auto Windscreen's Chesterfield HQ - at least 12 years. Inside the building it looks very smart with a busy call centre. Auto Windscreens is Chesterfield's third biggest employer, apparently. And the company is growing. Our meeting was in a 'breakout room', which surprised me with its wallpaper and leather sofas. Very upmarket - and quite different to what you might expect.

Both Anna Melton, the company's head of pr, and Ben Snowdon, the marketing manager, were full of some of the exciting developments the company has in store. Unfortunately I'll have to keep these close to my chest for now.

But one of the news elements will certainly be of help to small business with company cars. It sounds like it should take much of the grunt work out of expenses and will provide easier administration processes, something any small business needs - watch out for it during quarter two. Could be a real winner.

TAGS: Audi A6, Auto Windscreens

We're all increasingly wired; plugged into the networked world of the internet, Facebook, Twitter and Google Buzz and so on.

While some people lament the lost, easier pace of working life, regulated more by the arrival of the post rather than the inbox pinging a new message, it has liberated a whole legion of people - those people that work from home.

It's provided unheard of flexibility - and opportunity.

One of the people I met at the HMRC's first 'Supporting Small Businesses Partner' conference last Monday (see blog 398 - Good record-keeping makes a good business) was Emma Jones. Emma runs her own website called Enterprise Nation. It's for home businesses, providing a free resource for all those who make a living in their own home.

It was founded by Emma in 2006, and now hosts the UK's largest website for people starting and growing a business from home, runs the Home Business Awards, and produces the annual Home Business Report. Emma also advises the government on home working.

"Many people almost start by accident," Emma told me. "They have a hobby, realise they're quite good at it, and then start earning money from their hobby."

If you have your own home business then do visit the site. You know that it's run by someone who's done just that: run her own business from home.

I particularly like the idea of the 'watercoolermoment' on their Twitter site: http://twitter.com/e_nation. "At 11 o'clock every day, home workers can take a break and 'talk' via Twitter about anything they like," says Emma. "We only launched it a few weeks back, it's become very popular. It allows you to engage in converstation - or if you're too busy, then you can carry on with your work. You don't have to 'stand around' talking!"

It's a great idea. If you're a home worker, why not join Emma and the rest of the connected group of home workers at 11am on Monday? It's yet another benefit of the wired world.

TAGS: home working, HMRC, Emma Jones

I WAS at the BVRLA dinner last night - the bash of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association. In other words, all the big-wigs from the leasing and contract hire companies. It's the first I've been to.

I was on the guest tables and the host on my table was none other than Nigel Stead, boss of the now huge Lex Autolease operation. Given the task of integrating the Lloyds TSB Autolease contract hire company with its former Lex/HBOS rival, Nigel looked remarkably fit and well on it.

There were two well-balanced speakers on the line up. The first was former MP Michael Portillo. Now Portillo always has something interesting to say, and last night was no different. He beautifully described the way the election numbers system worked and how a hung parliament was almost a certainty - because of the size of the swing needed if the Conservatives were to achieve a majority. Along with the perils of inaction on the national debt.

One of the key points was something he described as the 'phoney recession'. "A bit like the phoney war of 1939 where we didn't seem to be involved in the war, I believe we've had many people who simply have not been affected by the recession - it has been a phoney recession for them," said Mr Portillo. "They still have their jobs; prices are competitive; mortgage interest payments are low. The problem will come with rising taxes, perhaps rising interest rates, too - then, the recession will start to hit those who have remained largely immune to it."

At the other end of the scale we had comedian Frankie Boyle: funny, rude - no, make that very rude - Boyle's time on the stage went far too quickly. And the gags I can remember aren't suitable to be repeated here.

One of my immediate guests was Mike Paterson from Thatcham, the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre. "We can tell business car managers how safe their cars are; how secure; and how easily repairable they are," Mike explained. "In fact, at the moment we're putting together a list of the safest cars you can get based not only on the EuroNCAP safety star ratings - which we helped establish - but also on the car seat whiplash test results we carry out."

It was interesting, finding our a lot more about Thatcham than I did before. "Our overriding aim is to make cars safer and more secure for the car insurers," added Mike.

My actual beef with insurance companies is that the pricing is so opaque in what always appears to be a deal driven environment come renewal time. At what point does you no-claims bonus count? And why do I have to apply for a certificate rather than being sent one? None of it is easy.

The whole car insurance things smacks of self interest and backhanders - although I have no evidence for the latter. Is it any wonder that we have that proliferation of solicitors offering no fee, no win consultations - companies paying for lists of accident victims in the hope of representing them. That can't be right? Where's this money coming from? Well, inevitably us at some stage.

But, frankly, I'd like to see the insurance companies get together to offer a proper service that's transparent, understandable and fair. They need to set some standards - and stop treating their customers like commodities. Perhaps I should point Frankie Boyle's acerbic tonque in their direction: they'd soon start taking notice.

TAGS: BVRLA, Thatcham, Michael Portillo, Frankie Boyle

I ALWAYS thought a good set of records was a good sign when buying a used car: you know, stamped log book, service receipts, expired MOTs and so on.

And so, it seems, it's the same thing with good businesses.

Yesterday I was at HMRC HQ. Yes, the dreaded ogre, the taxman himself - I stepped into the very jaws of the building in Parliament Street, London.

Actually it wasn't that intimidating. I was there as part of the HMRC's first 'Supporting Small Businesses Partner' conference. You see, Business Car Manager is an official HMRC partner. Scary thought, I know.

However, HMRC is keen to get its message across in a more positive, constructive manner than table thumping and fine warnings. As Dave Hartnett, the rather scarily titled Permanent Secretary for Tax, told us: "HMRC can terrify; our partners less so, especially when it comes to SMEs."

So HMRC has decided to try and make tax easier to understand, help small businesses through difficult trading periods and attempt to get this friendlier message across by using partners - magazines, websites and so on that readers rate and trust. Which is where we come in.

It's certainly something HMRC needs to do. A recent Federation of Small Businesses survey discovered the 75% of small businesses believe they would be able to grow if the UK tax system was simplified. No wonder the FSB found that most businesses did not feel confident dealing with tax issues - 66% used professional help. I count myself among those.

I tackled Stephen Banyard, director of HMRC's Business Customer Unit, on HMRC's new approach, particularly over its new push on keeping good records - see our news story Better record keeping saves businesses money.

"Without good records, you can't run a good business," Stephen told me, adding that errors and incorrect paperwork cost the Treasury £6.5bn a year to correct.

"If you watch Dragons' Den, the one thing the dragons always say is, 'where's the paperwork?'. Keeping good records isn't just good for your tax; it's good for business. HMRC has a role to play in promoting good business practice."

From what I heard, the HMRC is serious about this. Get it right, keep things recorded and the taxman won't beat you over the head. In fact, the taxman will be considerate in providing assistance during cash-flow shortages - Stephen said so far HMRC had helped businesses reschedule over £6bn of tax, NI and VAT payments through its Business Payment Support Service during the current economic downturn.

But it's not just existing businesses. Stephen and his team are keen to breed good record-keeping manners with new start ups, too.

Stephen provided these six tips for good record-keeping:

1. Set up a reliable system for keeping full and accurate records of your income and expenses from the outset.
2. Keep records throughout the year - update these records regularly, rather than letting the paperwork pile up.
3. Keep your records for a minimum of six years.
4. Keep records to show what you have bought or sold relating to your business. This should include details of all cash transactions as well as invoices and receipts.
5. If you are an employer, you must keep records of wages paid and details of tax and National Insurance that you have deducted and paid to HMRC.
6. Keep bank statements and building society books - this is particularly important if you don't have a separate business account. You should be able to show clearly what you have spent personally and on the business.

If you would like an HMRC factsheet on record keeping, then there is a pdf available here on the HMRC site: Keeping records for business - what you need to know.

TAGS: Record keeping, HMRC, FSB

I ALWAYS like talking to Mark Sinclair - he's the boss of Alphabet leasing company.

Mark invariably has an interesting take on the world of business cars. Occasionally we meet up - as was the case late last year for lunch - and just shoot the breeze.

At the time Mark was particularly keen to talk about the new BMW MINI Partnership for small businesses, and the new BMW 320d EfficientDynamics, the first details of which had just been launched. (Although Alphabet is a multimarque leasing company, it is owned by BMW, and Alphabet will be helping small business users through its BMW Finance arm and the BMW MINI Partnership.)

Another topic was the 'contract hire must be right for everyone' method of thinking for financing your business cars. Now, while I do think contract hire is a good way to fund a business car, it's certainly not the only financing method for business cars. And every small business should do what's right for them and their business.

On Friday I had a look at Mark's blog on the Alphabet site. In this case he was discussing LPG. LPG has some fairly good enviornmental benefits but its chief attraction is the low cost of fuel - half the price of diesel and petrol. You can read Mark's blog here: Return of the prodigaL(PG).

I was interested because I've just been doing some research on LPG, the cost of conversions and how far you had to drive before you would recoup your money. On some of the big-engined premium models it makes a lot of sense - fancy a big-engined Mercedes? Or a Range Rover? LPG might be the way to run one of these without requiring your own personal filling station and private bank.

To a great extent, LPG has been sidelined as a fuel since the government retracted its support and enthusiasm for the fuel. But that hasn't stopped Birmingham City Council including LPG as part of its low-carbon transport policy for the future.

Mark argues that, while some commentators have scoffed at Birmingham's support for an 'old' fuel, there could be many benefits. I called Mark to talk to him about his views.

"Fuel is a really big story and one that I think will come to dominate over the next 10 years. We try to get people to see that the cars they buy now will lock them in to fuel efficiency levels (and tax levels) for the next three to four years," Mark explained.

"The landscape for cars will change beyond all recognition over the next 10 years (probably the fastest pace of technological change the automotive industry has had since in started 100 years ago). This is only two to three car changes away. There are so many options in terms of fuels and technologies that it is important to keep some element of flexibility in a fleet to cope. I think there is a real rationale here for taking cars on a three year cycle and backing away from the (recent) trend of four year terms.

"People should be able to buy into the technology as soon as they can. Who would have thought even a year ago that a 320d would be capable of 70mpg and crack 109g/km CO2 and still be just as quick when you want it to be!"

It's a good point. I'm always sceptical of businesses that tell you they must buy diesel. Why? Look at how you use the car - what's the purpose? Just because received wisdom says diesel is correct for company cars doesn't mean received wisdom is correct in every case.

If you have several salesmen that belt around the country then a diesel would be appropriate for the mileage. But for a staffer with a lower mileage, then petrol might well be more appropriate.

Anyway, have a read of Mark's blog - it's a thought-provoking piece. As always.

TAGS: Mark Sinclair blog, Mark Sinclair, LPG, BMW 320d EfficientDynamics