SPK Shah & Co Ltd

Chartered Accountants and Chartered Tax Advisers with strong healthcare bias based in Leicester but with clients nationally and abroad.

[Ian Cowie @iancowie]

Writing a column about financial matters had never made me shed a tear, but this one did.
https://t.co/i56uEsTARy

[Ed van der Walt @EdVanDerWalt]

I buy this.
AI is an experience amplifier.
The more you know, the better it gets.
Welcome to the age of the generalist.

[SPK Shah & Co Ltd @SPKShahCoLtd]

What a surprise

[Financial Times @FT]

Junior consultants called back to office as AI increases need for human skills https://t.co/6qqyzaxTzD

[Prem Sikka @premnsikka]

Large part of UK’s water network was installed 130 to 150 years ago.

Thames Water infrastructure has average age of 79 years; industry average 56 yrs.

40% of TW assets are 100+ yrs old.

Since privatisation, water companies paid £88.4bn in dividends.
https://t.co/JypgEcmIWW

[Paul Lewis @paullewismoney]

Insurance gives you peace of mind - until you claim, part 94

[Ian Cowie @iancowie]

Never mind the hosepipe ban; here are six ways to invest in water, including three global funds
Enjoy this article for free.

https://t.co/PRYiW6oQJJ

[Prem Sikka @premnsikka]

Post Office closing 52 offices across the UK.

Most are in Morrisons shops, which are closing as its private equity owner makes cuts.

More will close as private equity owned TG Jones (WH Smith) makes cuts.

Towns/Districts without banks & post offices.
https://t.co/pHjz7Wqfud

[Anne Ashworth @AnneAshworth]

Stat of the day from @HMRCgovuk Inheritance tax (IHT) receipts for April to July were £3.2bn, £0.1 bn up on the same period of 2025. We're told some in the London property market now fear Budget IHT increases. Another rumour undermining sales and stamp duty revenues #owngoal

[Financial Times @FT]

The Trump economy: $40tn debt, 6.7% mortgages and $5 diesel https://t.co/9SKepLrG8S

[Prem Sikka @premnsikka]

UK fashion seller Boohoo fined €2.3m (£2m) in France for offering fake discounts.

Also used terms “leather” or “suede” to sell synthetic products.

Previously paid $100m to settle US allegations of using fake promotions.

Is any corporation pristine?
https://t.co/8JffmE0Cgj

[Prem Sikka @premnsikka]

Reform’s economic adviser called for end of pensioners’ triple lock.

Highest state pension is less than 50% of minimum wage.

Wants to privatise the NHS, sees migration as a poverty alleviation tool.

Reform wants to repeal equality and human rights laws.
https://t.co/SOfaVG5rzk

[Ian Cowie @iancowie]

Psst! Are you missing out on the quietest bull market on this planet? Here are four investment trusts focussed on it; two of which I own!
https://t.co/yIs0Gqw6rj

[Tansu Yegen @TansuYegen]

AI made students faster.
AI made their homework better.
Then came the exam.

Students using AI completed homework roughly 20 minutes faster and scored 20+ points higher on their assignments.

But when they had to perform without AI, their exam scores were roughly 15 points lower.

That is the uncomfortable part of the AI in education debate.

AI can improve the output while weakening the learning.

26,811 students. Ages 12 to 18.

The real question is no longer whether students should use AI.

It is this:

How do we make AI a tool for learning, rather than a substitute for thinking?

[Nimesh Shah @nimshah14]

My top tip when dealing with @HMRCgovuk. Keep a record of everything and be ultra-organised. That means copies of letters, emails and payment confirmations, and making a note of the date, time and outcome of every telephone call and the name of the person you spoke to via @R_A_Mortimer @thetimes https://t.co/xJZjiN4ZV2

[Vala Afshar @ValaAfshar]

Do not outsource your thinking.

[Prem Sikka @premnsikka]

UK household energy bills to rise to average of £1,729 a yr.

Profiteering is rife.

Rise will wipe out the promised £45 VAT cut.

Will increase poverty. 120,000 people a yr die in fuel poverty.

Can't ease cost of living crisis without ending profiteering
https://t.co/TM6WDxwvVA

[Gina Miller @thatginamiller]

During Covid, govt paid c.£175m to consultants.

Now we’re recruiting thousands of bright, capable civil servants. So why are taxpayers still being billed billions for private consultants?

Government should build internal expertise, not outsourcing institutional memory and accountability to firms charging eye-watering rates.

This isn’t efficiency. It’s a criminal waste of taxpayers’ money!

Invest in people who serve the public, not corporations profiting from government failure @andyburnham @UKLabour
@FT
#PublicMoney #CivilService #Transparency #Accountability

UK government to pay KPMG and EY up to £456mn to train civil servants https://t.co/VcLhaWyINy via @ft

[Heather Self @hselftax]

There is SO MUCH life admin to do for older people.

Finally got LPA sorted for my elderly cousin.
- registered it with GP (4 phone calls)
- booked her an appointment with neurologist (4 more phone calls)
- registered it with bank, who claimed she doesn’t have an account
1/2

[Anne Ashworth @AnneAshworth]

Stat of the day from @rightmove The average asking price for a home newly put up for sale is 2% lower than a month ago. The decline is most acute in London. Maybe time for confidence- boosting measures in #Budget2026 to ensure the flow of stamp duty revenues from the capital?

[Pulse AI @PulseAIHQ56]

Success isn`t luck.