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Company bosses were urged to make sure they don’t miss deadlines or they could rise a fine.

Town company - chartered accountants and business advisers Waltons Clark Whitehill - hosted the event which saw a representative of The Pensions Regulator answer questions at a special briefing.

Stephen Rowntree talked about auto-enrolment which is now been rolled out in small firms.

In each quarter of 2016, thousands of Tees Valley companies will need to comply with regulations or risk criminal prosecution.

Waltons Clark Whitehill managing director, Heather O’Driscoll, said: “Every month hundreds of local companies have to start complying with these new rules, and they need to be able to prove that they have done this.

“Our team at Waltons has helped countless clients to prepare for auto-enrolment, along with all other kinds of accounting, tax and pension compliance. It is estimated that £25 million of fines have already been handed out to SMEs for missing auto-enrolment dates, and a number of high-profile cases show the Government are serious about enforcement.”

Stephen Rowntree said: “It is vital that businesses don’t miss their staging and declaration dates.”