With the end of 2016 fast approaching, we asked the UK's top officials to look back at the year, outline their goals for 2017 – and shed some light on their festive favourites. Tim Moss, chief executive of Companies House, takes part in our annual perm secs round-up...
What was your highlight of 2016?
From a work perspective, Companies House hosted the largest conference for business registers in the world, showcasing the UK’s leading position to representatives from over 80 jurisdictions in five continents. On a personal level, no question, my highlight was being awarded a CBE in the Queen’s 90th Birthday Honours list.
What has been the most significant change in your organisation this year?
This year we successfully implemented major changes following the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015. This included the first public register of People with Significant Control (ie. Beneficial Owners) of companies, continuing the UK’s position as one of the most transparent economies in the world. This was a complex piece of legislation, delivered on time and helping to reduce crime and allow investors and the public to make more informed decisions.
What will be the biggest challenge of 2017 – and how are you preparing to meet it?
Next year we will deliver a streamlined company registration service together with HMRC allowing anyone to start a company and register for corporation tax, VAT and PAYE in one go, making it even easier to set up a company – and as we start over 600,000 new companies every year that will create a significant benefit to UK PLC. Working across two different organisations presents challenges but our joint teams and strong partnership working have helped us to tackle all the issues so far.
What was the best Christmas present that you’ve ever given or received? And the worst?
We have a tradition of making presents, and some I’ve given that were most appreciated would be driftwood Christmas trees. The other one was giving some money to a young friend of my daughter who was trying so hard to save enough money pay for his citizenship – the look on his face made it even more worthwhile.
And the worst I’ve had would have to be the odd jumper or other items of clothing that really didn’t suit.
More: Perm secs round-up 2016 – Britain's top civil servants review the year and look ahead to 2017