The remit was to carry out research on the subject of whether it would be possible to run a type of lottery with a skills based question and thereby exempt a UK company from having to obtain a lottery licence.

We visited multiple websites and also made contact with the UK Law Society and spoke to three solicitors’ practices that are said to be conversant in gambling, lottery and licensing regulations in the UK.

The information and views received from the above on the subject matter were consistent and therefore I feel that the information is correct.

By running a lottery/competition but making entry subject to successfully answering or completing a skills based question or challenge, the activity would not fall within the scope of a lottery and therefore a licence would not be required.

The definition of what constitutes a skills based question or task is that the challenge must be such that it could reasonably be expected that some entrants would not succeed in correctly answering or completing the challenge.

There is no statutory or legal rule which defines what percentage of or how many people should normally fail the test in order for it to be deeded to be a skills based challenge.

I was advised that by seeking the advice of a Solicitor it would demonstrate in itself that legal advice had been sought and this would bode well for the company if the competition was even challenged.

If a Solicitor was used to discuss the matter and the specific proposals of a venture, they would be able to advise on the details in the light of their knowledge and current regulations.

The following websites provide additional information:

• http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk
• http://www.lacors.gov.uk/lacors/home.aspx
• http://www.culture.gov.uk
• http://www.out-law.com/
• http://lotteriescouncil.org.uk/
• http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/lottery-laws-face-sweeping-reforms-to-open-up-chances-for-competitors-702937.html

I hope that the information proves useful to a future decision.

There are many third party registered office facilities on offer whereby they allow a limited company to make use of their address. They then promise to forward all post from Companies House and Revenue and Customs to the director’s home residence, usually at no additional cost.

There are both advantages and disadvantages of using third party registered offices both at the time of the formation of a company or at a later date when the business has been in existence for some time.

One of the much talked about benefits of not using a home residence for this purpose is that of protecting the location of where the director or owner lives. This is not really an effective mechanism for hiding the owner’s residential address as currently, they are required by law to disclose this location when they are appointed as director, secretary or shareholder.

Thus, their residence can be found by this means and the fact that the registered office may be housed in another location will not disguise this fact.

Until the Companies Act 2006 provision takes effect, which allows company officers to hide their residential addresses, the protection afforded by third party facilities purporting to keep home location secret is a thin argument.

Prestige and impression is another commonly mentioned advantage of subscribing to outside registered office services. This benefit is a little more substantial as a company registered office located in say Central London and displayed on the business’ website and letterheads is likely to be viewed as more graceful than if 14 Fraser Close was shown instead.

One potential disadvantage of using a third party registered office address is that it adds one more cog in the company’s chain of receiving their Companies House and Revenue and Customs post. Instead of going straight from the Government department to the director, it goes firstly to the third party who then hopefully accurately dispatches it to its intended recipient.

Another factor which can influence the likelihood of mail being received at it final destination is the forwarding strategy adopted by the registered office providers. Most such facilities are offered by company formation agents, some of whom have differing policies toward the forwarding of statutory mail.

The Royal Mail states that when an item of post has been sent and received at its intended destination, i.e. the third party registered office, any further redirecting of that item must carry the required postage to the eventual recipient.

So the mere placing of a new address label on the letter and re-posting it without applying additional stamps may result in a charge (the proper postage plus a penalty) being levied on the director when it is delivered.

Some company formation providers do apply additional postage for the journey from their offices to the director’s home address whereas others do not. The service offered by this latter category may not be as effective as that which is provided by the first.

The good aspects of statutory post are that many of the tasks which traditionally used to be completed via paper forms are now available online. Hence the transfer of communications from Companies House and Revenue and Customs by means of physical mail is becoming less crucial in business operations.

Whilst the transition from paper to online correspondence is becoming more commonplace, it should also be noted that any letters sent by these two government departments can be re-requested. Also, given the timely nature at which most communications are despatched, there is usually sufficient time for copies of documents to be resent without the deadline of their submission passing.

Using third party registered office facilities can benefit those who wish to register a company by elevating there perceived status to a well known address location. An awareness of when certain post is due to be received from the Government departments may help both the tracking and the eventual receipt of all post which forms part of the relaying service.

Carrying out regular evaluations of both the business and yourself is a crucial part of ensuring that potential opportunities are maximised and that any non efficient practices are rectified.

Before discussing the specifics of any type of evaluation, it is important to express the gravity of the necessity and the alarming frequency with which the exercises do not form part of the everyday processing which occur within business operations.

Switching from being employed and starting a business often results in many changes to both one’s duties and outlook. Some of the changes may be obvious, such as where the person works or the fact that finances become their immediate responsibility.

Other changes have a greater subtlety and due to the time spent adjusting to the more striking alterations in the person’s life; these less overt differences can be overlooked. Such items which fall in to this category might be some of the broader administrative activities which existed in a person’s previous employment such as appraisals, management meetings and peer discussions.

These are a form of business and personal evaluation whereby others assess individual performance and also the strategic direction of the operations. The results of these exercises may have favourable or not so, but none the less, they provided a structured platform for commentary on performance and the mechanism to change it where this was deemed necessary.

Most small businesses fail to implement such structured evaluation methods in to their operations mainly due to the lack of time and other resources. They generally choose to rely on strict financial indicators such as profit and turnover to assess and evaluation how the business is performing and therefore, in turn, how effective they are being.

The problem with such crude techniques is that they would fail to reveal many of the lost and future opportunities available to the business and would not, in themselves, provide any detailed analysis of where either profit or turnover originated.

Also in cases where the person being evaluated is responsible for carrying out the critique, many would agree that this lacks objectivity and the motivation to provide useful information.

The evaluation of both the business and the person running it must be conducted if the business is to rely on anything apart from luck to deliver the full potential benefits to the owner.

Running a small business, particular as a sole trader or single company director might restrict the available avenues to obtaining an objective and thorough report card on performance.

They are some methods which can still be called up on however. These might include trusted friends, certain family members or even Management Consultants who might be able to review and assess the effectiveness of one or more aspects.

In the case of both family and friends, proper instruction by the owner and the fact that even negative comments would in fact be most useful might lead them exercise a higher degree of objectivity when conducting their analysis.

They also certainly have the advantage of being free and low costs means of receiving feedback and comment.

Management Consultants do charge and the initial quotation might be alarming. One should remember that in almost all cases you receive what you pay for and even though the expense might be large, the value obtained from a yearly or quarterly check-up could far outweigh the charge.

A reasonable halfway approach between the potentially far from objective approach adopted by friends and family and the expense of  a professional consultant might be that of joining a BNI chapter or some other group which can provide discussion, feedback and analysis both directly and indirectly to the business and owner.

By listening to others talk about their business, ideas can be gained as well as evaluated and such interactions can enable the business owner to compare their focus and direction to that of their peers.

Whichever methods or combinations of them that are adopted, it is vital that a sole proprietor have some means to receive external assessments on both their performance and direction and that which relates to businesses.