Nimbla and Wiserfunding announce business risk modelling partnership

Digital insurance platform, Nimbla has announced a business risk modelling partnership with Wiserfunding. Wiserfunding is a venture from Edward Altman, the creator of an industry-standard credit risk model, the Z-Score. Wiserfunding’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) enhances SME credit profiling by assessing intangible factors such as corporate governance, management capacity and macroeconomics. ‍Nimbla’s risk modelling will be…

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SMEs begin road to recovery despite negative short-term outlook

Barclaycard Payments’ second SME Barometer has found that, despite UK businesses predicting poor short-term performance, and reporting a dip in sentiment compared to last quarter, there are early signs that they have begun the road to recovery. The report found that business sentiment has dropped by 31 points this quarter, down to 79 points out…

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Business lending rises to £27.5bn for 650,000 businesses

Latest figures published by HM Treasury have revealed how the banking and finance sector is helping businesses of all sizes get through these tough times. Lenders have approved £27.5 billion to more than 650,000 businesses so far through the three major government-backed lending schemes. The industry is providing an unprecedented level of support to businesses…

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Government loan scheme raises issues for future SME disputes

The big uptake of Government-backed covid-19 loan schemes raises important questions about small businesses’ concerns over their treatment as customers of the banks, according to a new independent report. The report says that issues arise from the statistically significant participation of Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMEs) in Government-backed loan schemes. A tightening economy will…

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Six more lenders added to CBILS

The British Business Bank has announced that it has approved six new lenders for accreditation under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). New lenders Bibby Financial Services, iwoca, Scania Financial Services, Triodos Bank UK, Ulster Community Investment Trust (UCIT), and Woodsford TradeBridge will be able to provide financial support to smaller businesses across the…

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Government extends maximum loan size to £200m

The Government has announced that it will extend the maximum loan size available through the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) from £50 million to £200 million. The maximum loan size increase will help ensure those large firms which do not qualify for the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) have enough…

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Small firms call for sole trader support

New Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show that the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and seeking support under the Universal Credit “searching for work” conditionality rose by 69% to over two million between March and April. Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) research shows that close to one in ten (8%) business owners have…

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Over £22bn in lending approved to half a million businesses so far

Latest figures published by HM Treasury today show that the banking and finance industry has approved over £22 billion in loans to more than half a million (505,040) businesses so far through the three major government-backed lending schemes. In the past week alone lenders have provided over £7 billion to businesses through the Bounce Back…

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Two new lenders accredited to British Business Bank loan scheme

The British Business Bank has announced that it has approved two new lenders for accreditation to offer Covid-19 business loans to small businesses across the UK. Tide will join the sixteen other  lenders who have been accredited to the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) since the scheme opened last week. Alternative finance lender Liberis has…

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Lending support to businesses rises to £15bn

The government published new statistics that show businesses have to date benefitted from over £14 billion in loans and guarantees to support their cashflow during the crisis through schemes delivered by the British Business Bank. This includes 268,000 Bounce Back Loans worth £8.3 billion, 36,000 loans worth over £6 billion through the Coronavirus Business Interruption…

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Government to provide Trade Credit Insurance guarantee

Businesses with supply chains that rely on Trade Credit Insurance and who are experiencing difficulties maintaining cover due to Coronavirus will get support from the government, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen has announced. Trade Credit Insurance provides cover to hundreds of thousands of business to business transactions, particularly in non-service sectors, such…

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Finance provider seeks to acquire £1bn in overdue invoices

12th May 2020 Debt Sale and Purchase |

New finance provider Azzurro Associates, is looking to provide cash against at least £ 1 billion of UK businesses’ unpaid invoices to help provide much-needed liquidity in the coronavirus crisis. The new service aims to help businesses clear their growing unpaid debts. This is the first time that companies operating in the B2B sector have…

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Companies could be holding up to £105bn in unsustainable debt

Analysis from TheCityUK reveals that British firms could hold as much as £105bn in unsustainable debt by March next year. The financial services industry body has set up a recapitalisation group to agree on a collective response to the coronavirus pandemic from industry and government. The Group has written to Bank of England Governor, Andrew…

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