visit our website www.northdevonjournal.co.uk NDJ-E01-S2 The Journal Thursday December 5, 2013 51

Advertising: Fiona ClarkeTel: 01271 347400Email: fclarke@northdevonjournal.co.ukEditorial: Robert ZarywaczTel: 01271 879100Email: business@northdevonjournal.co.ukCalls may be recorded or monitored for training purposes

Find all your local business news at www.northdevonjournal.co.uk

Dithering over projects damages the economyI’M WONDERING if I have de-veloped powers of prophecy,writes Robert Zarywacz.

The other week Mrs Z askedmy opinion on the Atlantic Ar-ray and I said I didn’t think itwould ever happen, so I wasn’tsurprised to hear it had beens c r ap p e d .

T here’s quite a few other pro-jects I don’t think will ever hap-pen, but perhaps it’s notprophecy but understanding ofthe culture of dithering that en-gulfs most major developmentsproposed in this country.

I feel it’s the right decisionthat the Array is not being built

because I suspect that by thetime it would have been con-structed the technology wouldhave been obsolete and the windenergy fad would have peteredout. We’ve been warned for wellover a decade about the need fornew power generating capabil-ities and if we’d acted earlierperhaps a coherent programmewould have already been com-pleted.

While in this case it was aprivate company that wastedmillions on the project, it hasstill wasted the time – andmoney – of many people andbusinesses. I went to several

events about the array and real-ise that if I could charge for allthe time spent at consultationsand meetings of this kind I’dnever have to buy another Eur-omillions ticket.

So much time is spent dither-ing over projects from superfastbroadband to new high-speedrail links, road improvementschemes, airport capacity,house-building programmesand more. Dithering is so dam-aging as it either wastes time onprojects that don’t go ahead orpushes up the cost of those thatd o.

I’m not necessarily in favour

every development, whichshows my age, but realise thatmillions of people want to live a21st century lifestyle. What wedo need is a fast, fair and properprocess to consider argumentsfor and against a project, fol-lowed by a definite, unbiasedand swift decision. This wouldcut out the endless consulta-tions, which still don’t seem tobe taken into account, as well asthe waste of businesses’ timeand the damaging uncertainty.

What a prosperous, efficientworld we would live in. Myprophecy is that we won’t eversee it.

Tax cheats who reclaimVAT targeted for fraud

Victuallers raisetheir glasses toannual dinner

WORLD Inspired Tents, the Il-fracombe-based tipi rental com-pany, has won the WeddingIndustry Award for the BestWedding Marquee Provider inthe South West for the third yearr unning.

“The whole team are abso-lutely thrilled,” said owner EdWright. “Everyone has worked

extremely hard to maintain ourposition for a third year, and thisaccolade is the best praise andrecognition the team could hopefor. Not only because the awardsare based on votes received byour customers, but also becausesuch a huge number of themtook the time to show their sup-port for us this year. This award

offers reassurance to potentialcustomers, so is of real value tou s. ”

The win is also a vote of con-fidence in expansion to a secondbase in Bristol. Ed’s wife andfellow director Donna Wrightsaid: “We are particularly de-lighted with this win, as it re-inforces our decision to expand

and shows that we continue todeliver excellent quality service,but now in a much wider geo-graphic area.”

The winner will be decided atthe Wedding Industry Awards inJanuary, when the company willbe judged against winners fromother UK regions. For detailsvisit worldinspiredtents.co.uk

Hat-trick win for wedding tipi company

■ CHEERS: Dan Crabb, regional sales manager at St AustellBrewery, left, at the event with North Devon LVA Groupchairman Justin Matthews

BARNSTAPLE and NorthDevon LVA, one of the oldestLicensed Victuallers’ Asso-ciations in the country, heldits annual gala dinner lastmonth.

The event at the PierHouse, Westward Ho! wassupported by St AustellBrewery and attracted 110guests, including 40 li-c e n s e e s.

Peter Wilkie, St AustellB rewe r y ’s sales develop-ment manager, said: “Wewere delighted to be able tosupport this fantastic event,the likes of which are be-coming more and more rareacross the country.

“The LVA is one of the few

left and it really brings pub-licans together and acts as asupport network. They areall willing to help each otherout and share ideas abouthow to deal with issues thatface publicans these days.It’s a united force.”

Steve Spear, secretary ofthe LVA, said: “Years agoLVAs had hundreds of mem-bers because publicans re-lied on them for theirl i c e n c e s.

“Although the group issmaller now it is still just asrelevant. We use it to passon information and shareknowledge and we are al-ways looking for new mem-b e r s. ”

■ INSPIRING: Award-winning tipi company World Inspired Tents is to compete in the national final.

TAX cheats in the South Westwho try to reclaim VAT fraud-ulently are being targeted aspart of an HM Revenue and Cus-toms (HMRC) taskforce.

HMRC has seen an increasedrisk of fraudulent VAT repay-ment claims in the South West,in particular businesses beingset up purely for the purpose ofmaking false VAT repaymentscl a i m s.

The VAT repayment taskforce– targeted at individuals andbusinesses across the SouthWest including Devon – aims totackle this and recover £3.8 mil

lion in South West England andSouth Wales. The taskforce is aspecialist team that undertakesintensive bursts of activity inspecific high-risk trade sectorsand locations in the UK. Theteam visits traders to examinetheir records and carry out oth-er investigations.

David Gauke, exchequer sec-retary to the Treasury, said: “Weare determined to support hard-working people who want to geton, but the people being targetedby these taskforces have no in-tention of playing by the rules.This Government has made it

clear that we will not tolerate taxevasion and has provided HMRCwith the resources to crackdown on those who break ther ules.”

HMRC has collected morethan £100 million as a result oftaskforces launched since 2011.It expects to bring in over £90million a year from taskforceslaunched over the next threeye a r s.

H M RC ’s Jennie Granger, dir-ector general of Enforcementand Compliance, said: “Deliber-ately falsifying VAT records isserious. It is really important

that we level the playing field bystopping tax cheats. Our mes-sage is: do the right thing. If youh ave n’t already, come clean now.If you don’t, we will find you,investigate you and, not onlycould you face a heavy fine, butyou may face a criminal pro-secution as well.”

Other taskforces have beenlaunched to tackle tax evasion inthe South of England in the roadtransport industry and throughhidden wealth. You can HMRCabout anyone who is evadingtheir taxes by calling the TaxEvasion Hotline on 0800 788 887.