Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Office for Students (OfS) has revealed that financial pressures continue to mount across Universities, with more than 40% now operating in deficit. The new report, which examines the sector’s fiscal outlook for 2024–25, outlines serious challenges that threaten the long-term viability of institutions. The National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) has previously raised…
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The National Debtline and Business Debtline have provided more free debt advice in 2024 than ever before as cost-of-living pressures continued to hit household finances, according to the Money Advice Trust’s latest Impact Report. The charity’s free, independent debt advice services for individuals and small businesses provided six million minutes of debt advice, with 271,900…
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Institute of Directors (IOD)’s latest Economic Confidence Index, which measures business leader optimism in prospects for the UK economy, rose slightly for the second month in a row, from -58 in March 2025 to –51 in April – the highest since September 2024 (-38). Business leader confidence in their own organisations also improved from +5…
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A new report by European debt collection specialist Intrum has highlighted that without improved economic conditions, up to 10 million European businesses face potential closure within two years, threatening up to 40 million jobs. Late payments are a key driver of this risk, draining liquidity and limiting SMEs’ ability to invest and grow. In the…
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Northern Ireland has bucked the UK overdue invoice trend as the only UK region or nation to see overdue invoice numbers fall in Q1 2025 when compared to Q1 2024, according to new research from R3, the UK’s insolvency and restructuring trade body. R3’s analysis of data provided by Creditsafe shows there were 187,502 overdue…
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One in five small businesses are turning to credit cards to manage cash flow, highlighting a growing trend among entrepreneurs facing unpredictable income and rising expenses. While credit cards can offer flexibility and short-term relief, relying on them without a strategy can quickly spiral into high-interest debt and financial strain. The British Business Bank found…
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The number of overdue invoices on the books of Scottish businesses reached a three-year high in January, according to new research from R3, the UK’s insolvency and restructuring trade body. R3’s analysis of data provided by Creditsafe shows that businesses in Scotland had a total of 611,754 overdue invoices on their books last month. This…
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Latest data from Money.co.uk has found that on businesses are facing 47-day payment delays. The FSB has described late payments as one of the ‘biggest problems’ facing small businesses and with the Government announcing plans to crack down on late payments with stricter laws to help smaller businesses and grow the UK economy The research…
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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 latest ‘Red Flag Alert’ report from Begbies Traynor reveals a worrying surge in the number of businesses in the UK entering ‘critical’ financial distress in the final quarter of 2024. In Quarter 4 (Q$) 2024, ‘critical’ financial distress rose by 50.2% to 46,853 companies, underscoring a deteriorating outlook. Of the 22 sectors covered by…
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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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New research from R3 shows that in November, the number of overdue invoices in Northern Ireland fell to a 2024 low. The restructuring body’s analysis of data provided by Creditsafe shows that businesses in Northern Ireland had 62,544 unpaid invoices on their books last month – the lowest monthly total in 2024. Overdue invoices in…
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The National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) is calling for ‘real consequences’ to help address the ‘endemic culture’ of late payment within the UK construction industry. The NFRC’s latest State of the Roofing Industry report has revealed that 45% of respondents experienced delays getting paid in quarter three of 2024. The proportion of those not…
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