Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The number of invoices being paid after their due date in Northern Ireland fell more than 35% in September 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, according to new research from R3, the UK’s insolvency and restructuring trade body. R3’s analysis of data provided by Creditsafe shows that overdue invoice numbers in Northern Ireland…
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Small businesses in the UK are facing a worsening late payment crisis, with payment times hitting a three-year high. According to Xero’s quarterly small business index, small firms are waiting an average of 29.4 days to be paid by their customers, with payments in September being made 7.7 days after the due date. The manufacturing…
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The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has labelled the upcoming Autumn Statement a watershed moment for the Government to cement its commitment to the small business community and cultivate conditions that focus on business recovery. The call comes exactly one month before the Chancellor delivers his speech to set the economic agenda for the next…
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New research by Intuit has found that UK small business credit card spending up by 22% since the pandemic amidst funding challenges. With elevated inflation and high-interest rates, small businesses have increasingly depended on their credit cards, with the current spending being 20% higher, on average, than they were before the pandemic. At the same…
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The Government has announced tougher measures to tackle the issue of late payments to small businesses. These new measures will be included in the upcoming Prompt Payment & Cash Flow Review, due to be published shortly and will improve delivery and enforcement of policies, enabling more small businesses to get paid on time. Late payment…
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A Government watchdog set up to tackle late payments has reclaimed less than £800,000 for small businesses since June 2021. The Office of the Small Business Commissioner, launched in December 2017, has recovered £8.5 million owed to small businesses, with £7.8 million retrieved before June 2021. The Commissioner attributed the lower amount recovered to resolving…
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Analysis of the Bank of England’s data on SME lending shows that through the first half of 2023 SMEs saw net lending decrease by £5.3 billion. The research by Ebury has highlighted the urgency with which businesses are now making debt repayments in the aftermath of the various Covid-19 loan schemes and the rising cost…
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The Secretary of State has said that she is committed to tackling late payments, reducing regulatory barriers and boosting exports – harnessing the two halves of her Department, Business and Trade, to focus on small firms following the Federation of Small Businesses’ (FSB) new office opening in Westminster. Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said…
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Increasing late payments and spiralling running costs are taking their toll on small construction firms, with confidence amongst the sector falling considerably in Q2 2023, from 27.4 to -31.8, according to FSB’s latest Small Business Index. FSB research found that more than a third of small construction firms (39%) experienced an increase in late payments…
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The Government has paid out £7.39bn to settle bad Covid-era loans, with £2.23bn more in arrears and £750m in default. With data showing that the Government paid out £1.2bn to settle pandemic emergency loans that had gone bad in Q2, Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy figures suggest taxpayers could ending up paying £11.5bn…
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Small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) are currently owed an average of £27,214 in late payments1 according to new research from Intuit QuickBooks, as SMBs estimate one in six invoices (17%) with customers or suppliers are overdue. The research found that the problem is growing – more than half (52%) of SMBs agree they have been more affected…
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The Government has been slow to take action to recover losses to error and fraud in Covid 19 grant schemes of over £1 billion according to a report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) The report found that three years on from the provision of £22.6 billion in business support schemes in the pandemic, the…
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A new YouGov survey shows most MPs want tougher measures to crack down on late payments. The survey commissioned by the UK’s largest accountancy bodies – the Association of Accounting Technicians and the Association of Chartered Accountants – recently found that two-thirds of MPs think the Prompt Payment Code should be made compulsory for organisations…
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