Business Pension Advice Specialists In West Yorkshire

Business Pension Advice Specialists In West Yorkshire2026-04-10T10:40:48+00:00

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Expert Pension Advice For Business Owners

For many business owners, they view pensions in one or two ways. Either as another thing to implement as a business owner by providing a workplace pension for employees or as a distant retirement pot to be enjoyed when the time comes to take a step back and retire.

However, did you know, your pension pot can be utilised to help your business right now? Whether that’s by further investing in your business by being used to purchase commercial premises or reducing the amount of Corporation Tax you need to pay by optimising the amount of company employer contributions you should make.

We also advise on the creation of SSAS (Small Self Administered Schemes) and SIPP (Self Invested Personal Pensions) personal pensions for business owners, ensuring you’re fully informed of how they differ and can make an educated choice as to which is most suitable for your needs.

We can also advise on the setup of workplace pension schemes, taking the stress away from you. We’ll help you to choose a suitable scheme, manage the cyclical ‘re-enrolment’ process that occurs every three years and ensure your communications to employees meet the required legal standards.

Let Us Help

Whether you seek personal pension advice or help with setting up and managing workplace pensions, we can help.

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    Consent*
    We’ll only use the data you choose to enter here so that we can chat about your query. Personal information will be treated as confidential by us and held in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018. Take a look at our privacy policy for more info.

    Business Pension Advice: What We Can Help With

    SSAS Pension Set Up

    Often seen as the ‘ultimate business owner’s pension’, a SSAS (Small Self Administered Scheme) is a unique workplace pension for up to 11 members (usually Directors and family members) to pool their funds and make investment decisions. It offers unparalleled control, allowing you to use funds in the pension pot to buy commercial property or loan up to 50% to your trading company. Essentially turning your pension into a business bank.

    SIPP Pension Creation

    For any business owners who want financial flexibility without the complexity that a SASS can bring, a SIPP (Self-Invested Personal Pension) pension is a great choice. They provide greater control and a wider investment range than standard personal pensions, allowing you to invest in commercial property, stocks and funds. Growth within a SIPP is usually tax-free too.

    Reducing Corporation Tax Liability

    Contributing to a pension as a ‘company employer’ contribution is often much more tax-efficient than paying yourself a salary or dividend. These contributions are typically treated as a business expense, which means they’re deductible when it comes to Corporation tax and aren’t subject to National Insurance (employer or employee) too. We’ll calculate the ‘sweet spot’ for your contributions.

    Business Pension Auto-Enrolment

    We take the stress out of the obligation that every UK employer must set up and provide a workplace pension. We’ll help you to choose the right workplace pension provider, manage the re-enrolment process that occurs every three years and ensure any communications you send to employees meet legal standards.

    Commercial Property Purchases

    Did you know, your pension can help you to purchase commercial premises such as your office or warehouse? We’ll guide you through the purchasing process via a SIPP or SSAS. Once complete, the business pays the ‘rent’ to your pension pot, essentially paying yourself. The ‘rent’ becomes a tax-deductable business expense and grows tax-free within the pension too.

    Tapered Annual Allowance Planning

    For any successful directors, the standard £60,000 annual allowance can become a hurdle. We’ll help you to understand and navigate complex rules like the Tapered Annual Allowance that reduces the allowance for high earners and help you take advantage of carry forward rules to mop up unused allowances from the previous three years. Our aim is to ensure more money remains in your pocket.

    What To Expect

    1

    Get In Touch

    Let us know your specific business pension requirements either via our online form, email or a phone call. The more details we know, the sooner we can start to help.

    2

    We’ll Assess Your Needs

    Our team of experts will review and assess your needs, allowing us to understand your situation and how we can help.

    3

    Advice Tailored To You

    One of our expert financial advisers will be in touch to discuss your specific business pension advice requirements and will work with you to create a tailored strategy.

    How We Can Help

    When it comes to pensions for business owners we take a ‘Dual Perspective Planning’ approach, analysing your pension as not just a retirement pot, but as a business asset that can make you money now. We look for opportunities where your pension can help to fund your business (via loan-backs) or ways in which we can ‘supercharge’ your pension via employer contributions.

    When it comes to helping you set up a workplace pension for your employees, we analyse your current situation and your specific requirements to find the most suitable workplace pension. We’ll look to ensure it’s FCA-regulated, integrates seamlessly with your payroll software and low administration costs.

    As we have access to the entire market, we’re not restricted to one singular pension provider, allowing us to truly find the right pension provider for your SIPP, SSAS or workplace pension for employees.

    We’re here to help with many facets of your pension operations. If you’re using your pension to buy property or loan money to your business, we’ll act as the project manager, coordinating with solicitors, lenders and trustees to ensure HMRC rules are strictly followed. Or if you’re choosing a new workplace pension or moving to a new SIPP provider with better investment choices, we’ll handle the paperwork on your behalf.

    Not only that, but we also conduct yearly reviews of your personal pension to ensure you take advantage of any unused allowance, assess investment performance and ensure your workplace pension’s auto-enrolment scheme stays compliant with any changes to legislation.

    So if you’re looking for a financial adviser that truly cares about protecting your money, making your life easier and is always at the forefront of any regulation changes, look no further than Oakworth Financial Planning.

    FAQ’s

    Yes, generally employer pension contributions are considered an allowable business expense and as such are deemed tax-deductible. They can be deducted from company profits before the calculation for Corporation Tax takes place, as long as they meet the ‘wholly and exclusively’ rule that means they must be reasonable in amount when compared to the person’s salary.

    Generally, no. SIPPs and SSASs are designed for commercial property (offices, warehouses, shops). Investing in residential property usually triggers severe tax penalties from HMRC, unless it is part of a very specific collective investment vehicle, which is rare for small schemes.

    A SIPP is a Self Invested Personal Pension that allows individuals to choose and manage their own investments such as shares, funds and commercial properties. They offer a much wider investment range than a standard pension and are a popular choice with self employed people, anyone who wants to manage their own retirement investments or anyone looking to further supplement their workplace pension.

    Whilst most SIPP providers will manage your investments on your behalf, you can choose to manage them yourself, which makes them an attractive choice for many. Your pension provider will also take charges from your pension pot as their management fee to cover the cost of investing. We’ll aim to recommend a pension provider that has lower charge fees.

    Whilst there are no legal limits on the amount of SIPP’s you can have at one time, there are a few things you need to consider before opening more than one.

    Positives

    • Variety: Whilst SIPP’s generally offer a wide range of investment options, there may be a particular SIPP that offers you a unique opportunity to invest in something of interest.

    Negatives

    • Charges: Each SIPP you have will come with its own management fee which can all add up. There could be further costs too depending on the funds you choose.
    • Allowance: It’s very important to keep an eye on how much you’re paying into each policy to ensure it’s in line with your annual allowance.

    So as you can see, there’s a couple of pros and cons to having multiple SIPP’s, so it’s important to weigh up your options, consider your circumstances and determine your goals before opening more than one.

    SIPP savings are usually free from any inheritance tax when passed to a beneficiary (This will all change in April 2027). However for this to be the case, the trustees must always choose who receives the benefits on your death. This is guided by your nomination and known as ‘exercising discretion’. This shows how important it is to ensure your nominations are always kept up to date so that trustees can easily choose who receives your SIPP pension.

    When nominating a beneficiary, you can elect to choose anyone, whether that be a partner, friend or even a registered charity. Whilst your pension provider isn’t actually legally required to pay out to who you choose, it will take it into consideration. If you choose a minor as a beneficiary, it’s highly likely that the money would be signed over to their legal guardian until they turn 18.

    Whether you can pass your pension pot to your beneficiaries without them being liable for income tax all comes down to your lump sum and death benefit allowance (LSDBA) and how much is left. The limit is £1,073,100, but could be higher if you have existing Lifetime Allowance protection.

    Cash lump sums for any deaths under the age of 75 are subject to your available LSDBA and anything above this limit will be taxed at your beneficiary’s marginal income tax rate. This means that the rate of income tax charged to the beneficiary is based on their total income.

    Once the beneficiary of your SIPP also passes away, if they’ve put the funds into a beneficiary’s drawdown and there are still funds left upon their death, they too could pass down any remaining funds to a successor and so on until the funds are exhausted.

    A Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS) is an option for owners or partners of limited companies, allowing up to 11 people to join. The business owner can set up a SSAS and can invite others to join (usually family members or other employees).

    Those members of the SSAS are then also typically its trustees, meaning they too are jointly responsible for running the scheme. Depending on how the SSAS is set up, members will either own an individual pot or be entitled to receiving a percentage of the whole pot.

    The main advantage of a SSAS over other types of pension schemes is the wide range of investment options that are on the table for its trustees. You can choose to use up to 50% of the funds within the pot to purchase commercial property for the business, buy company shares to then use the money to help run the business and even lend money to your business.

    A SIPP is a personal pension for one individual, whilst a SSAS is an occupational scheme for a specific company, allowing members (usually directors) to pool their funds. Crucially, a SSAS has a “loan-back” facility allowing you to lend pension money to your company whilst a SIPP generally does not.

    Yes, usually. consolidating your current and any old pots into a modern SIPP or SSAS can reduce fees and give you a clearer view of your wealth. However, it’s important that we first check if your current or any old pensions have any valuable “guaranteed benefits” that would be lost upon transfer.

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    Registered in England: 03888445 at 45 Newgate, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, WF8 1NB. Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for Investment Business. Our aim is to provide you with a professional service that delivers the highest possible standards. However, should you wish to make a complaint, you can do so by writing to [email protected] or phoning us on 0800 018 6020. If you cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk or by contacting them on 0800 023 4567.

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