Dear Member,   

In this week's ezine we advise employers on planning for the public holidays which fall over the Christmas period. Our webinar on 16 November will cover the same topic and also advise on inclement weather conditions and how to avoid the common pitfalls of the Christmas party season.

Each week in the SFA e-zine, we profile a different government support available to small businesses. In this edition, we focus on Accelerate Capital Allowances, which can reduce your tax bill through buying energy-efficient equipment.

We update you on SFA's participation in the high-level consultation forum on the Action Plan for Jobs where we highlighted the role of small business in jobs creation. We invite members to attend the SFA AGM on 29 November or to run for election. We also link to the latest World Bank's Ease of Doing Business report which shows Ireland's ranking has improved.

We hope to see you at one of our events this week - there is lots going on and there really is something for everyone. Business Bytes is taking place tomorrow evening focusing on how to structure your business tax efficiently for today and tomorrow. The SFA will also have a presence at the Taking Care of Business event tomorrow. On Friday the SFA Annual Lunch, a networking event in celebration of small business is taking place in the Mansion House, don't miss your last chance to attend. Book a place on one of our training courses this month on management skills and employment law and at the SFA Members Christmas evening on 14 December. 

As always, we’d love to hear from you about any queries you may have, issues you wish to have raised with Government or other stakeholders and your ideas on how we can improve the business environment for us all. Please contact me on tel: 01 605 1602 or e-mail: sven@sfa.ie or tweet: @SFA_Irl or visit: www.sfa.ie.

Kind regards, 

Sven Spollen-Behrens

SFA Director