Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Research from independent SME funder Bibby Financial Services (BFS) has found that women business leaders are facing gender inequality in commercial lending, which is hampering the growth ambitions of many SMEs. Data from BFS’s latest SME Confidence Tracker, which surveyed 1,000 UK SMEs, uncovered that two thirds (66%) of women business leaders believe that banks…
Read more
New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that total asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) fell in March 2024 by 10% compared with the same month in 2023. In Q1 2024 as a whole, new business was at a similar level to Q1 2023. The business new car…
Read more
Commercial finance lending software specialist, Dancerace has announced it has launched a new risk system for invoice finances providers. The new system is called r3 RiskOps which enables risk and operational teams to better manage client risk and work more efficiently. The system comes to market having already been deployed by Skipton Business Finance in the…
Read more
The EY Item Club has forecasted bank-to-business lending will to grow just 0.5% (net) this year, before rising to 2.8% (net) in 2025, as lower borrowing costs boost demand The analysis says lending to UK businesses will increase by 0.5% this year, having contracted by 2.1% in 2023. Looking ahead, growth in business lending is…
Read more
A survey by invoice finance company Novuna Business Cash Flow has found that 34% of SMEs could cease trading if unable to secure funding. The figure contrasts sharply with the surprising revelation that 50% of SMEs have not sought any form of financial assistance since November 2023, despite the precarious position many find themselves in…
Read more
Analysis of the Bank of England’s data by Ebury’s SME Borrowing Tracker shows that SMEs repaid almost £10 billion across 2023, with the final three months of 2023 marking the largest quarterly change in SME loans outstanding for 2023 as repayments accelerated towards the end of the year. In 2023, SMEs repaid a net sum of…
Read more
New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that total asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) grew in February 2024 by 10% compared with the same month in 2023. In the first two months of 2024, new business was 9% higher than in the same period in 2023. The…
Read more
New research from independent SME funder, Bibby Financial Services (BFS) has revealed that interest rates and political uncertainty are holding back many businesses from investing in the long-term business growth the economy needs. The data showed that over half (53%) of SMEs are putting off making major investments until interest rates fall, while four in…
Read more
Latest UK Finance data has highlighted that £3.5 billion was lent to SMEs in the fourth quarter of 2023 – the first quarter not to see a fall since Q2 2022. Figures from banking trade body UK Finance show that lending to SMEs fell for a third consecutive year in 2023. Gross lending to SMEs…
Read more
New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that total asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) grew in January 2024 by 8% compared with the same month in 2023. In the twelve months to January 2024, new business was 12% higher than in the same period in 2023. The…
Read more
The Financial Conduct Authority has said it will investigate the practice of requiring personal guarantees from directors of some small businesses when banks lend to them. The move comes in response to a ‘super-complaint’ made in November by the Federation of Small Businesses, which claimed that excessive requirements for personal guarantees were a ‘straitjacket’ on…
Read more
The British Business Bank’s Small Business Finance Markets 2023/24 report reveals that asset finance has grown for the third consecutive year, reaching a record high of £23.5bn in 2023, increasing by 7%/ The increase follows a rise of 11% in 2022 and 23% in 2021 and highlights the continued rebound in the asset class as…
Read more
13% of small business owners have backed out of a loan due to the demand for a personal guarantee according to new research by Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance. Purbeck says there is a concerning lack of understanding of personal guarantees in the context of business loans amongst small businesses. The survey found that although 30%…
Read more