A Fulwood accounting practice is giving out free advice and guidance to help small businesses survive the Covid-19 pandemic.

TaxAssist Accountants Preston, which recently opened a new office in Garstang Road, is running a number of initiatives to make sure business owners are equipped to weather the storm.

Practice owner Prakaash Manivannan said: “Throughout the pandemic, we have been helping small local businesses to claim the various grants that have been available to them.

“For existing clients – including hairdressers, small local retailers, opticians and the trades – this has mostly been free of cost as they struggle through the number of lockdowns.”

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In addition the TaxAssist Preston team is helping people who have lost their jobs during the pandemic.

Prakaash said: “We are offering free advice to those that may have been recently made redundant and are looking to start their own business.

“We can guide people through the various formalities required when beginning self-employment, and we can also put them in touch with our network of banks, insurance providers, web page designers and other services needed when starting out on your own.”

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In a push to encourage more people to shop locally, Prakaash and the team recently launched a Buy Local campaign, giving out free window stickers to local businesses. To request a sticker, email preston@taxassist.co.uk.

The team has also produced a series of free guides and webinars, which they are sharing via their Facebook page.

Some of their latest advice includes encouraging people to set up a payment plan with HMRC if they are unable to pay their tax in one go.

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What do you think of Prakaash and the team trying to help local businesses? Let us know in the comments.