For Finances Sake (FFS)

Breaking down the budget: what’s been announced, and what it means for you. In this episode of FFS, Rachael Chadwick-Harrison goes solo to debrief the latest budget, and one announcement in particular has left her furious... Business Asset Disposal Relief being halved from £1 million to £500,000.

She covers what the cut really costs owners selling a business they’ve spent decades building, who the new Founders’ Relief leaves out, another tax rise for personal landlords, whether a limited company now stacks up (and why you shouldn’t rush into one), and the good news buried in the budget, including the trading allowance rising to £3,000.

Busy doesn't mean profitable. In this episode of FFS, Rachael Chadwick Harrison is joined by James "Monty", Senior Accountant at Chadwick Accountants, to talk about one of the trickiest decisions in business... what to charge.

They cover cost-based vs. value-based pricing, the costs owners forget (including paying themselves), why being too cheap can actually lose you work, and the numbers to check before putting your prices up. The episode ties into a chapter from Rachael's upcoming book, The Black Book, What It Actually Takes to Build a £1 Million Service Business.

If you're not committed to prepare, you're just committing to fail.

In this episode of FFS, host Rachael Chadwick Harrison is joined by Tara, Business Operations Executive at Chadwick Accountants and, outside of work, an amateur dramatics performer who recently played Sandy in Grease, to talk about why presenting yourself well matters just as much as being good at your job.

Drawing on lessons from the stage, from smiling and reading the room to the discomfort of watching yourself back on camera, Tara and Rachael cover what makes a great first impression with new clients, why existing clients deserve just as much effort as the ones you're still trying to win, and how new starters size up a business within their first week.

The episode ties into a chapter from Rachael's upcoming book, out in October.

Cash flow doesn't care how much you believe in your business. In this episode of FFS, host Rachael Chadwick Harrison is joined by her fellow director and husband Chris, to count down the top 10 things they wish every new business owner knew, drawn from years of working directly with hundreds of clients at Chadwick Accountants.

No "believe in yourself" fluff, just contracts, cash flow, realistic forecasting, the first hire that can make or break you, and the number one tip they agreed on before they'd even compared notes: hire a great accountant, ideally before you incorporate. Rachael also shares a first look at her upcoming book, The Black Book, out in October.

It's the question every business owner asks eventually and the right answer keeps changing.

With new MTD rules, Rachael breaks down sole trader vs. limited company: tax, National Insurance, liability, and the tipping points that matter, profits past £30K and £50K, high-value personal assets, high-risk businesses, and family members who could use a lower tax band.

If you've ever wondered whether incorporating is worth the hassle, this episode answers it.

Most businesses don't have a leadership problem, they have a management addiction. 

In this episode of FFS, host Rachael Chadwick Harrison sits down with Sarah Gardiner, Director of Strategy at the British Business Bank, to talk about the real difference between businesses that are managed and those that are truly led. Drawing on close to thirty years across banking, fintech and strategy, including turning around an underperforming Clydesdale branch and senior leadership at fintech CIC Fair For You, Sarah shares why coaching pays off, how culture shows up in the numbers, and why the businesses that scale are the ones where people grow faster than the problems.

Ever hired someone who looked perfect on paper and turned out to be an absolute nightmare?

You're not alone. One bad hire can cost more than a tax investigation, and cause twice the stress. In this episode of FFS, Rachael is joined by David Dand from Coreus, a boutique talent consultancy helping SMEs attract, recruit, and retain the right people.

They get into why the biggest mistake businesses make isn't a lack of candidates, it's a lack of authenticity. Why culture fit matters more than most owners think. The real cost of getting recruitment wrong (hint: it's a lot more than four times someone's salary). And why recruitment might just be the last thing you should ever delegate.

From dodgy CV clichés to the questions that actually reveal who someone is, this one's essential listening for anyone who's ever made a hiring decision they later regretted, or is about to make one.

Because every generation thinks the one that follows them is lazy, lost, and heading for disaster. They're usually wrong.

Are young people really entitled and work-shy, or simply responding rationally to a world that looks nothing like the one we walked into? Shorter attention spans, influencer culture, £60k of student debt, and an AI revolution nobody can predict the rules have changed. The question is whether we're blaming the players.

Rachael is joined by Kate Ankers, Head of English and frontline teacher, to cut through the noise from TikTok attention spans and the death of the Saturday job, to the soft skills gap nobody in government wants to fix, and what resilience actually looks like in a generation we've never quite let fail.

If you employ, manage, or are raising an under-25 this one's for you.

In this episode of the FFS Podcast, Rachael is joined by networking expert and energy consultant Jon Zink to unpack the reality of modern business networking.

From overpriced breakfast events and awards nights to expos, masterminds, and online networking, they discuss how to spot the events that genuinely deliver value and avoid the ones that waste your time and money.

Jon shares practical tips on choosing the right events, following up effectively, building valuable business relationships, and why the real networking often happens after the event itself.

A must-listen for any business owner trying to balance visibility, ROI, and event fatigue.

Because families are still being sold incredibly complicated trust arrangements at hotel seminars with stale biscuits and scary headlines and most of the time, they simply don't need them.

"Put your house in a trust and HMRC disappears in a puff of smoke. The council can't touch your estate. Your inheritance is protected forever" It sounds compelling. It isn't true. And the people selling it know that.

Rachael is joined by Joanna, senior accountant and in-house inheritance tax specialist at Chadwicks, to cut through the noise on one of the most emotionally charged areas of financial planning. 

Trusts have their place. This is about knowing whether yours is one of them.

If you or your parents were sold a trust by someone named Nigel with a Bluetooth headset, this episode is for you.