HMRC collects extra £14.4m in tax from preferential creditor status

New analysis by Forvis Mazars has found that the HMRC has collected an extra £14.4 million in tax from insolvencies since it regained its ‘preferential creditor’ status in insolvencies. HMRC was given ‘Crown Preference’ priority in insolvencies in December 2020. That preferred status allows it to reclaim tax owed from an insolvent business ahead of any…

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Third of businesses need access to finance to survive

New research by Novuna Business Cash Flow has found that 33% (a third) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK urgently require financial support within the next year to continue their operations.  This survey highlights the heavy reliance on personal sources of finance, with 19% of SMEs resorting to using their own savings,…

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Nearly one in twelve SMEs have missed tax payment deadlines

Nearly one in 12 SMEs, around 440,000 firms, say they have missed tax payment deadlines in the past year with a third of them admitting to missing five or more, new research from Premium Credit. The study with SME owners and managers found 8% of the UK’s 5.55 million SMEs have missed tax payment deadlines for…

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Commercial Credit & Collections Conference Review

Credit Connect Media hosted the return of its Commercial Credit & Collections Conference last week at the Met Hotel in Leeds which saw trade credit, insolvency, and economic change and discussed by fourteen leading credit, collections and insolvency professionals. In the sixth edition of the Commercial Credit & Collections Conference series, hosted by Credit Connect…

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Political parties’ plans to tackle late payments

New analysis by Atradius has reviewed the political parties’ key business-related pledges with the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats having all made promises to tackle the late payments crisis harming businesses. Labour says it would stamp out the late payment of invoices via new legislation to force large businesses to reveal their payment practices. The…

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High interest rates seen as a threat to half of business owners

More that half of business owners (54%) think the latest recession was an opportunity for entrepreneurs, whilst 51% think British entrepreneurship is about to boom. This rises to 57% of serial entrepreneurs, who have started multiple businesses in their time, according to new research from Charles Stanley. The research, has found that the opportunities driving…

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Interest holds rates at 5.25% – business industry reaction

The Bank of England has kept interest rates at 5.25%, a 16-year high, with a majority of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) agreeing that further evidence of diminishing inflation persistence was needed before reducing the degree of monetary policy restrictiveness”. The MPC voted 7-2 in favour of freezing the base rate. Following the decision by…

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One in five SME say late payments problems have become worse

New research from Premium Credit has shown that late payment issues are easing for SMEs but still remain a concern. Its Insurance Index, which monitors insurance buying and how it is financed, found one in five (20%) of firms reporting a growing problem with late payment of bills with 5% warning the issue has become…

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More companies and people using credit to cover tax bills

New research by Premium Credit has seen strong growth in the volume of funding and number of customers it supports through its tax and VAT funding proposition, which allows companies and business owners to spread the cost of their VAT, corporation tax and self-assessment tax payments. The research found that in 2023, the total amount…

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Lending to SMEs by high street banks grew in first quarter

Latest figures from UK Finance has shown further growth in business lending from high street banks took place at the start of 2024, following an increase at the end of 2023. Quarter 1 (Q1) 2024 saw a 15% increase compared with the previous quarter. At just over £4bn, this was 8% higher than the same…

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Small businesses call for clamp down on poor payment practices

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has urged the next government to focus on a better trading relationship with the EU, reform business rates, and clamp down on poor payment practices towards smaller suppliers. The FSB also wants to see an improvement in small businesses’ access to finance and a 33% statutory public procurement target…

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Construction growth held back by supply challenges

New research by Bibby Financial Services has found that construction SME have ambitious grow plans but are being held back by the impact of inflation, supply chain challenges and reduced access to capital. The survey also found that 58 per cent of construction SMEs say they are optimistic that orders will increase in 2025. While the…

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Late payments data shows small improvement

The latest Xero Small Business Insights (XSBI) data indicated that the length of time small businesses waited to be paid after issuing an invoice was 28.4 days in the March quarter, the same as the December quarter. The largest improvement was in the month of March, when this payment time metric was only 27.9 days…

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