The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has urged that the government accelerate the delivery of support to businesses. The CBI says that the Government has acted at pace to protect companies and jobs. So far around £6 billion in grants from local authorities have reached small businesses. And the Job Retention Scheme started strongly on…
Read moreThe banking and finance sector has provided over £2.8 billion of lending to SMEs so far through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), as part of a broad package of support for UK businesses, according to the latest data published by UK Finance. Total lending under CBILS has doubled in the week from 14…
Read moreThe number of unpaid UK business invoices has increased by 23% according to new tracker by AI platform provider, Sidetrade. Sidetrade’s tracker is based on a statistical analysis of 26 million invoices, representing €54bn of business to business transactions with the payment behaviour of over 3.7 million businesses is tracked week by week. The company…
Read moreExperian, and other credit reference agencies (CRAs), have confirmed new guidance to protect business credit scores during the Covid-19 pandemic. Lenders can now offer an ‘emergency payment freeze’ to businesses that may be worried about meeting regular payments because of the pandemic. Once agreed, lenders should not report a build-up of arrears to the four…
Read moreMore than one in four UK companies are being heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. That is the conclusion of the business intelligence specialist Graydon which it says is based on the financial health of UK businesses and the current economic situation. Graydon estimates that of all companies that identified as healthy at the beginning…
Read moreA third of UK SMEs will be unable to cover their costs by the end of July despite an unprecedented £330bn package of loans and guarantees from the Government, according to the latest research from Bibby Financial Services (BFS). The new study of SMEs shows this number rising to more than half should the lockdown…
Read moreThe Office for National Statistics (ONS) says Government measures designed to slow the spread of coronavirus has seen a quarter of businesses close down temporarily. A poll of 5,316 businesses, saw 25% say they had closed between 23rd March and 5th, while 38% of those that continued to trade said that their turnover was substantially…
Read moreWater regulator, Ofwat has proposed a package of measures to protect business retail customers and minimise disruption in the market. The impacts of COVID-19 are being felt across the whole of the UK economy and throughout each and every sector. In water, the business retail market in England will inevitably be affected, both through businesses…
Read moreSmall business loans platform, Funding Circle has been approved for accreditation by the British Business Bank under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), term loan variant. Funding Circle expects to open CBILS applications within the next week once it has completed the required legal and operational approvals with the Bank. Keith Morgan, CEO, British…
Read moreLatest Red Flag Alert data for Q1 2020 found there were large numbers of UK businesses experiencing significant financial distress at the end of March 2020, with the overall figure now exceeding half a million for the first time. New research from insolvency and advisory Begbies Traynor Group, has found that the largest quarterly increase…
Read moreNew research from Intuit QuickBooks, has indicated that the majority (71%) of SMEs have not yet taken any action to address financial stability. The findings are echoed comments from Minister for Small Business Paul Scully who has urged small business owners to go back to their banks if they were originally put off by the…
Read moreRetail sales fell by 27% in the first two weeks of the UK’s lockdown, resulting in the worst monthly decline on record for the sector overall last month, according to industry figures. by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) On a total basis, sales decreased by 4.3% in March, against a decrease of 1.8% in March…
Read moreSome 60% of the UK’s event industry’s supplier base is facing collapse within three months, unless event businesses receive further support from the Government, according to an online survey carried out by the Events Industry Forum (EIF) and Business Visits and Events Partnership (BVEP) and co-ordinated by the Production Services Association (PSA) between 3-7th April, …
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