With just under 8 weeks left to complete an entry form, we thought you might appreciate a little help, particularly with the ‘Commercial Performance’ section of the form. We get a lot of calls relating to the finance criteria so let me share a little advice, based on the most common queries.
Definition of terms
Turnover vs. UK sales
The difference between ‘turnover’ and ‘UK sales’ – ‘turnover’ relates to the whole business activity while ‘UK sales’ relates to sales to UK customers of the individual product or service i.e. domestic sales.
Grant funding
This refers to a government loan or any type of public funding.
Sales figures
A 'dip' in sales relates to any drop in the sales figures you are providing in your form i.e. where figures in one year are lower than in the preceding year.
For the International Trade category, there cannot be any dip in overseas sales as this is viewed as negative growth.
Across all other categories, if there is a dip in UK sales or the total turnover this will not rule you out of entering, especially if you have good business reasons for it, but this is a competition and your case may not be as strong as others with no dip in sales.
You cannot include financial data for companies that are not subsidiaries of your company. Financial figures for companies that you manage which are owned by your parent company cannot be included in your entry.
If you’re a trading element/division of a parent company, you can enter if you can show that you are a self-contained unit, with your own management structure, employees and client base, in addition to marketing your own products/services. Where you don't have your own accounts you can provide an extract of your parent company's management accounts – remember though, any figures must be capable of verification by an independent accountant if your entry is shortlisted.
Financial year end
If your year end is 30 September and you can't provide actual figures until they are confirmed post September you can use guesstimates, on the understanding that these figures are the ones that you entry will be judged on and the same rule about independent verification (above) applies.
If your financial year end changes during the period of your submission, you should contact us for advice before completing your entry. Please note, however, that the financial year end dates you can use for the 2015 form must fall on or between 1 October 2013 and 30 September 2014. You must also provide information for 2, 3, 5 or 6 consecutive 12 month periods.
Further advice
There’s plenty more advice to come as we approach the closing date so look out for updates here and on our Twitter feed and LinkedIn page. If you need any questions answered, feel free to tag on to this blog and we’ll find the answers for you.
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