Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Confidence among small business owners has dropped to its lowest level since 2020, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The FSB’s quarterly small business index fell by 13 points, with a confidence score of minus 71. Taxation emerged as the primary concern for 64% of 1,200 respondents, marking a record high. The FSB…
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New analysis from UK Hospitality has revealed that six hospitality venues could close every day in 2026, if the Government doesn’t introduce a hospitality-wide solution to avert significant business rates increases in April. The analysis shows the scale of potential closures and forecasts that 963 restaurants, 574 hotels and 540 pubs would be set to…
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Latest analysis by BDO of retail sales showed that December marked the worst set of total monthly sales figures since November 2024, with total like-for-like retail sales dropping by -1.4% in December. In-store sales fell by -0.5% and online sales by -0.6%, compared to December 2024, as sales volumes declined across channels. This follows disappointing…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it has fined two former finance directors for their part in misleading statements being issued by Carillion plc. Richard Adam and Zafar Khan were both aware of serious financial troubles in Carillion’s UK construction business but failed to reflect this in company announcements or alert the board…
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New research from Novuna Business Finance has revealed a five-year peak in the percentage of small business owners (84%) who are starting 2026 with plans to invest in new growth initiatives to make their enterprises stronger for the year ahead Following a challenging trading period in 2025, during which the percentage of small business owners…
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The IoD (Institute of Directors) Directors’ Economic Confidence Index, which measures business leader optimism in prospects for the UK economy, ticked up to -66 in December 2025 from the (pre-Budget) November level of -73. Once business leaders had a little more time to reflect on the impact of last year’s Budget on confidence in their…
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Deloitte’s latest survey of UK Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) shows that 59% of the UK’s largest businesses have become more optimistic over the past 12 months on the potential for AI to boost the performance of their own organisation – up from 39% when last measured in the third quarter of 2024. CFOs overwhelmingly (96%)…
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Business confidence in the UK has fallen, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), with only 46% (compared with 48% in Q3) of companies expecting increased sales this year and 24% saying they expect to see a decline in turnover. The survey saw 63% of firms polled cite tax rises as their primary concern,…
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More than 3,000 smaller pubs will pay business rates for the first time after losing exemptions, despite Budget promises of hospitality support with some pub landlords face bills exceeding £10,000 Following an emergency summit of pub chiefs, the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has issued an urgent call for Government to introduce a 30%…
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The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has published its annual BRC Payments Survey, which shows how people make payments in 2024. This year’s survey reveals a significant decline in credit card use, from 14.2% of transactions to 12.6%. With higher interest rates making credit cards a more expensive way to shop, consumers turned to debit cards, where…
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The UK economy unexpectedly contracted by 0.1% in October, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows, matching the 0.1% decline recorded in September. Economists had anticipated growth of 0.1%. Quarter-on-quarter, the economy shrank by 0.1% in three months to October, primarily due to a decline in manufacturing and stalled services growth. Production output…
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The UK economy is expected to grow by 1.4% in 2025, revised slightly up from the previous forecast of 1.3%, driven by strong public spending. However, GDP is expected to slow to 1.2% in 2026, before rising to 1.5% in 2027 – unchanged from the previous forecast, because of productivity challenges and cautious fiscal tightening.…
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High street banks’ lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) slowed in the third quarter of 2025, according to UK Finance, reaching £4.2 billion. Year-on-year growth dropped to 6.4%, down from 8.3% in the previous quarter and 14% in Q1. This marks the slowest growth since banks resumed lending to SMEs in early 2024. UK…
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