Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The winners of the 2025 Credit & Collection Industry Awards have been announced following a live in-person event yesterday (Thursday 22nd May) at the Milner Hotel in York There were eighteen winners (four of which were partnership wins) from the twenty awards categories, which were presented by awards compare’ Brennan Reece. The Credit & Collections…
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Nearly eight in ten (78%) of SMEs are worried about inflation and the cost of living, according to Shawbrook’s latest research amongst senior decision makers, an increase from 69% in 2024. SMEs are particularly concerned about the rising cost of running their business (76%), with three quarters (75%) of decision makers listing economic uncertainty a…
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Latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data has shown that UK GDP grew 0.2% month-on-month in March, following a 0.5% rise in February meaning that GDP expanded by 0.7% in the first quarter of the year. The increase marks a significant improvement on the 0.1% growth recorded in the closing quarter of 2024 and exceeds…
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The percentage of small businesses that rely on finance or funding to invest in business growth has reached an eight-year high, and those most in need of it are the enterprises predicting significant expansion for the months ahead, according to new research by Novuna Business Finance. The nationwide poll of 1,242 small business owners revealed…
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The Bank of England has cut interest rates from 4.5% to 4.25%. Responding to the announcement, Suren Thiru, ICAEW Economics Director said “This cut in interest rates is a timely shot in the arm for those businesses struggling to adjust to last month’s substantial spike in business costs and households contending with burdensome mortgage costs.…
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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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UK-listed companies issued 62 profit warnings during Q1 2025, an 11% year-on-year fall, however the proportion of listed firms to warn in the last 12 months remains high (18%). EY-Parthenon’s latest Profit Warnings report found that the leading factor behind profit warnings in Q1 was contract and order cancellations or delays, cited in 40% of…
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Small importers have warned that reciprocal tariffs on the US market would ‘wreck’ their business plans, research by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) shows. The UK’s largest business group has today published data showing that one in three (33%) would scale back orders if the UK Government struck back and taxed goods headed from the US…
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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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A new report by the Treasury Committee has found that the Government’s failure to act to tackle declining cash acceptance could lead to a two-tier society, with the most vulnerable bearing the cost. The Committee heard directly from vulnerable groups, including people with learning disabilities, domestic abuse victims and the elderly, that buying essential goods…
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The EY ITEM Club has downgraded its GDP growth expectations for 2025 to 0.8%, down from the 1% predicted in February’s Winter Forecast, and has revised its 2026 forecast down from 1.6% to 0.9%. While the start of 2025 appeared to show economic momentum building, the weaker global economy and market uncertainty created by trade disruption are expected…
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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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