Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The British Business Bank’s latest Nations and Regions Tracker reveals a significant increase in external finance usage among UK small businesses, with 46% now leveraging it, a rise of 10% from the previous year. Notably, Wales leads with 53% of smaller businesses using external finance, marking a 16 percentage-point increase. Despite this growth, 61% of…
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Electricity bills for small industrial consumers, including large retail and leisure units as well as small manufacturers, are set to rise to around £200,000 more than pre-crisis levels in 2026 according to data from Cornwall Insight’s Business Energy Cost Forecast. The report revealed that small industrial businesses are predicted to be paying £550,000 annually (£238…
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New research by Direct Line has found that the average tradesperson is chasing £6,000 in late payments. The data has shown that 81 per cent of tradespeople are chasing late payments, with the average tradesperson chasing seven outstanding invoices A fifth (22 per cent) of tradespeople say pursuing late payments is taking time away from…
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The Government has confirmed that it is launching new measures to support small businesses and the self-employed by tackling the scourge of late payments, which according to the Smart Data Foundry is costing small businesses £22,000 a year on average and leads to 50,000 business closures a year according to Intuit QuickBooks, The government will…
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The Government has unveiled new measures to support small businesses and the self-employed by tackling late payments, which is costing small businesses £22,000 a year on average and leads to 50,000 business closures a year. The new Fair Payment Code will replace the old Prompt Payment Code, which will be open to signatories this autumn.…
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One in six business to business (B2B) sellers (suppliers) are offering business customers over two months to pay their invoices, according to a new joint report from economic consultancy Cebr and iwoca. The report reveals the number of suppliers offering repayment terms over 60 days to customers has surged from just 7% of suppliers in…
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The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has issued a fresh warning to customers to beware of misleading requests for payments, sent by unsolicited organisations. These typically take the form of invoices requesting payment for trade marks, designs, or patents services. Such ‘services’ – once paid for – may simply never be provided, or may be of little…
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Over 3.6 million (72%) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have some form of outstanding late payment from customers, leaving them £96,772 out of pocket on average, according to new research from Aldermore’s SME Growth Index. The total value of late payments has increased from the end of 2023, up 41% from £68,715 with outstanding balances…
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New research by Upflow has found that over half of outstanding invoices (57%) are late, with a third of invoices (33%) taking longer than 90 days to be paid. Upflow says that throughout several industries, there is a worrying trend that if invoices are not paid on-time or within the first 30 days of becoming…
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Data from Cornwall Insight’s newly launched Business Energy Cost Forecast has revealed that a typical small business such as a pub, restaurant or independent retailer is paying over £5,000 more a year in energy bills than prior to the energy crisis, with bills predicted to rise further from the April 2025 – March 2026 contract…
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New analysis by FreeAgent has found that late payments in the UK have increased by 49.3%, with the average late payment rate now higher than it was during the same period the previous year (43% in 2022-2023). Late payments are also higher than it was during the 2020 calendar year (46%), which suggests that the…
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The number of overdue invoices in Scotland has reached its highest level this year, 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 538,172 unpaid invoices on their books last month – the highest monthly total in 2024…
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Late payments to UK small businesses surged over the last three months, with payments delayed by more than a week on average, according to the latest research by Xero. Payments to small businesses were made 7.3 days late, on average, between April and June. This is an increase of 1.8 days compared to the January…
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