360 Accountants plans to absorb increased costs amid soaring prices

360 Chartered Accountants has announced it will be absorbing increased costs to help its clients as businesses face soaring energy and fuel prices as well as other increases due to Brexit and the war in Ukraine.

It said that it hopes the move “will lessen the anxiety faced by businesses and give them some breathing space to divert funds to manage their fuel, energy and any other increasing costs”.

It comes as a recent study by energy analysts Cornwall Insight found that small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) have seen an average gas bill increase of more than 250% in the first three months of 2022 in comparison to the same period in 2021.

Adrian Hunter, managing director of 360, which has offices in Hull, East Yorkshire and York, said: “The huge increases that businesses are facing now is a massive burden on top of the difficulties they already faced as a result of the Covid pandemic.

“We are on the frontline helping our clients through these difficult times and we see firsthand the impact this is having. We certainly don’t want to add any extra stress which is why we have decided not to increase our standard pricing in 2022 for accountancy services and payroll services, which are delivered by our 5Four Payroll bureau.”

360’s founder and director, Andy Steele, said: “Our costs are also increasing but thanks to the investment we’ve made in IT, software and the team over the years, we’re able to absorb these for the foreseeable future and not pass them on to our clients. We were there doing everything we could for our clients during the dark days of Covid and we will continue to do so during 2022 and beyond.”