Nathan Berry Design

In an unassuming small workshop near Exeter, Nathan Berry makes customers’ kitchen dreams come true. For the last eight years, this sole trader has been creating totally bespoke, handmade kitchens, wardrobes and cabinetry that now adorn homes all over the south west and beyond. He’s making his skills as a craftsman count - and as an early adopter of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax, he’s also quietly at the forefront of one of the biggest tax changes in UK history.

That’s why it’s so important to hear from him as the next star of our Making It Count customer story series.

Over the next couple of years, MTD for Income Tax will replace the old, annual Self Assessment process for most sole traders and landlords. For those affected, it means keeping digital records in recognised software (like FreeAgent), sending quarterly updates to HMRC, and completing a final declaration once a year. 

It became compulsory for most sole traders and landlords with qualifying income of over £50,000 on 6th April this year, with those on lower turnovers following soon. And it’s fair to say it’s causing consternation in some quarters. In exclusive research conducted for FreeAgent, almost half (43.5%) of UK sole traders said they aren’t confident they’re ready for the rollout.* 

How an MTD pioneer gets it done

Nathan is not worried. He’s one of a small band of people who decided to sign up for MTD before they have to. So, as many sole traders are just getting started, he’s already completed almost a full year under the new system. “I know people now who are saying, ‘Oh, I’ll worry about it when I’ve got to’,” he says. “I just thought to myself, well, I could sit around complaining about it, but they’re never going to go back on it… so I might as well get on board.”

MTD for Income Tax is part of the government’s wider mission to implement a fully digital tax system in the UK. In fact, MTD for VAT became compulsory for all registered businesses in 2022 - the same year Nathan registered. 

Since then, he’s been managing the process with a combination of his Mettle bank account and FreeAgent. “I like Mettle. Mettle’s really cool,” he says. “And obviously, you get FreeAgent for free** with it. It’s a no-brainer.

“The Mettle saving pots are brilliant too. I’ve got a habit where I’ve got a VAT tax pot, which allows me to save the correct amount - and FreeAgent obviously tells me exactly what I owe. So I’m quite disciplined with that.”

With VAT reporting sorted, Nathan says MTD for Income Tax felt do-able. “I thought to myself, actually VAT is pretty straightforward to do, so how much harder can it be?”

And despite “a lot of misinformation” he’s seen kicking around online, straightforward is exactly how he’s found MTD for Income Tax so far. “MTD hasn’t been the biggest challenge my business has faced. FreeAgent literally does all the heavy lifting, all I do is click the submit button!”

Managing the challenge of rising prices

MTD may not have worried Nathan - but that doesn’t mean it’s all plain sailing as a small business. The biggest challenge he faces right now is the rising price of materials. “I use a lot of birch ply,” he says. “Before Russia went into Ukraine, before Covid, I was buying it at like £60 a sheet. Now, it’s double that. There’s the cost of paint as well. It seems like every time I go to buy something, the price has gone up.”

As the cost of living crisis continues to squeeze his customers, Nathan finds himself “stuck in the middle”. 

“The only thing that can be reduced is what you earn. So you’re under pressure to try and do things a bit quicker or reduce what you charge. At the end of the day, if I’m reducing what I charge, I’m not paying my bills so they can pay theirs. And that’s what it comes down to.”

With these cost pressures continuing to rise, it’s more and more important to stay on top of cashflow. Thankfully, FreeAgent allows Nathan to feel confident about his finances. “I use FreeAgent now for everything,” he says. “I use it for invoicing. I’m a CIS (Construction Industry Scheme) contractor now. So I can do CIS statements as well. I also use it, obviously, for recording expenses. 

“You connect your bank to it and you can see when someone has paid. Previously I would be going through bank statements trying to cross-reference payments.

“It does save me time and it allows me to be more on top of everything.”

And, of course, less time on accounts means more time to create beautiful cabinetry. In one recent project for a client in Lyme Regis, Nathan spent six months creating a full kitchen from scratch. The job included an incredible 40-plus drawers, each made to its own very particular requirements. “Every single drawer had something going on with it,” he says. “It wasn’t just a drawer. There was probably more work in the drawers for that kitchen than most off-the-shelf kitchens.”

That’s the biggest advantage of a bespoke kitchen. Unlike the big-name brands - or even high-end luxury suppliers - Nathan works with his customers to make sure every detail is exactly what they want. 

“Even if you go to one of these big companies that’s going to charge you a lot of money, they still have ‘set’ kitchens. They aren’t totally bespoke,” he explains. “You have your basic cabinet and then you might have two or three different styles of doors and you would have to choose one of those.”

That degree of control isn’t the only plus, though. “Obviously if you go to the bigger companies, they’ve got bigger overheads,” he adds. “So, a lot of the money you’re spending is going into that. With me, the money goes into the kitchen. 

“I’ve not had a disappointed customer yet.”

Better financial planning is not just a benefit for his customers. It also means Nathan can continue to enjoy the benefits of being his own boss. “I’ve been working for myself for so long, I just don’t know if I could actually go and work for someone else,” he laughs. “I might earn more money just working on sites. Obviously there are downsides to working for yourself but I do think the benefits outweigh any negatives.”

Not least among those benefits is the power to make his own hours and control how much work he takes on. That grants freedom to make time for the things that really matter, like his partner and five-year-old daughter. “Say if I need to go pick my daughter up from school, I can come here really early in the morning and still get a day in before I’ve got to go do that. I can adjust my hours to accommodate my partner’s job. I can work the hours to suit me. 

“And,” he adds with a smile, “I do like doing what I do. It is rewarding.”

Find out how you can get ready for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax here. 

* Censuswide survey of 1,000 small business owners, conducted December 2025.

** To be eligible for a free FreeAgent account you need to make at least one transaction a month from your Mettle account. If you don’t make one transaction a month or close your Mettle account, a FreeAgent subscription will be charged while you continue to use the software. Optional add-ons may be chargeable.