Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Latest figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that total asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) grew in January 2025 by 2% compared with the same month in 2024. In the twelve months to January 2025, new business was 3% higher than in the same period in 2024. The…
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Time Finance has released new data that has found that businesses’ understandings, attitudes and behaviours towards commercial finance, with loans topping the bill as the most commonly and widely used form of finance. Figures found that 93% of UK businesses are aware of loans, in comparison to only 76% who are aware of Invoice Finance,…
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Gross lending to SMEs rose by 13 per cent year-on-year to just over £16 billion in 2024 according to latest UK Finance data. The research showed that in each quarter of last year gross lending was up compared to the same quarter in the previous year. However, lending remains significantly below levels reported in the…
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The Department for Business and Trade is launching a review into SME lending, due to the increase in the price of debt in recent years. Commenting on the Government’s publication of a call for evidence on SME access to finance, Emma Lovell, Lending Standards Board (LSB) Chief Executive, said “SMEs are the backbone of the…
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A Devon taxi driver who fraudulently claimed two maximum-value Covid loans by overstating his annual turnover by more than £350,000 has been jailed. Murat Dogantekin secured the Bounce Back Loans worth a combined £100,000 from two separate banks just months into the pandemic, when he was only actually entitled to just over £4,000 under the…
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More than 10,000 additional cases of suspected Covid loan fraud have been identified following a government review of settled loans. The British Business Bank review of loans which had been defaulted on and settled by the Government shows that the number for the 2023 financial year has almost doubled from 16,846 to 31,437. The fraudulent loans for…
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More than a third (38%) of finance brokers say lower taxes are needed to boost SME growth this year, according to iwoca’s latest SME Expert Index. This is double the next choice of reforming business rates (19%). With almost three-quarters (70%) of finance brokers saying conditions for SMEs have worsened since the Labour Government took…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that total asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) grew in December 2024 by 7% compared with the same month in 2023. In 2024 as a whole, new business was 3% higher than in 2023. The commercial vehicle finance and plant and…
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A new EY ITEM Club forecast has predicted bank-to-business lending growth to increase from 2.9% in 2024 to 4.5% in 2025 – the highest rate since 2020 – and 5.6% in 2026 as borrowing rates continue to fall Bank lending to UK businesses grew by 2.9% in 2024, as falling interest rates boosted market confidence…
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The Bank of England’s rate-setting body voted to cut the base rate by 0.25% to 4.5%. The nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee voted by a majority of 7–2 to reduce Bank rate by 0.25%. But two members, Swati Dhingra and Catherine Mann, thought more help was needed and voted for a 0.5% cut. Bank Governor Andrew…
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Analysis of the Bank of England’s data in Ebury’s SME Borrowing Tracker shows that SMEs decreased their debt by £4.4 billion across 2024, reinforcing nearly three years of falling debt among SMEs, following the significant ‘debt pile’ accumulated during the pandemic. However, the final three months of 2024 marked the first quarterly uptick in SME…
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The former boss of a West London bakery who overstated his company’s turnover to secure a maximum-value Covid loan has been banned from acting as a director for ten years. Azizullrahman Akbari, obtained a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan just weeks into the pandemic, claiming the turnover for his New Watan Bakery Limited company was more…
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New research by Intuit Quickbooks has found that 27% of small businesses relied on credit cards for operations in 2024, with 33% charging over 25% of their monthly expenses. Intuit Quickbooks says that this trend highlights a deeper issue of restricted access to affordable traditional financing, as banks become more selective in lending. In addition,…
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