Client Story
How we restructured a Colliers Wood family takeaway for £6,500 saving
Client K runs a takeaway and grocery business on the Colliers Wood High Street trading as a sole trader, with profits around £58,000, selling hot takeaway food and packaged groceries. He was paying higher-rate income tax plus Class 4 NIC, with no structure for his wife who ran the counter and books, and the wrong VAT approach across the mixed range.
We incorporated the business into a Ltd company, set Client K's salary at the NIC-optimal level with the balance as dividends, brought his wife onto proper PAYE and as a minority shareholder reflecting her genuine role, and reviewed the VAT (hot takeaway standard-rated, packaged groceries zero-rated), which had been applied at 20% across the board, overpaying on the zero-rated groceries.
Total outcome: annual tax saving of £6,500 across the family through incorporation, proper structuring and corrected VAT treatment (reclaiming overpaid VAT on the zero-rated groceries), plus limited liability and a cleaner monthly bookkeeping rhythm.