Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
An improvement in jobs and sales growth across UK small businesses in June has been largely offset by increasing late payments and a slowdown in wages growth, according to the latest data from global small business platform Xero. The company Small Business Index, based on anonymised and aggregated data from hundreds of thousands of small…
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Business confidence is at lower than the pre-pandemic average as concerns about high inflation, record wage pressures and rising interest rates bite according to reaearch by ICAEW. Sentiment tracked by ICAEW’s Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) – one of the largest and most comprehensive quarterly surveys of UK business activity – put confidence at 6.1 on…
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The UK Small Business Index (SBI) from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has shown that business confidence has fallen by 14.2 points in Q1 2023, down 11.4 points from Q1 2023. The decline reflects the downbeat economic conditions small businesses had to navigate over the quarter, with stickier-than-expected inflation, while two base rate hikes…
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The UK is facing a prolonged economic slump caused by higher interest rates, economists have warned. EY Item Club has cut its growth forecast for 2024 and 2025. The group said the economy is set to grow by 0.8% next year, less than half its previous prediction of 1.9%. GDP growth will rise to 1.7%…
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Research from Bibby Financial Services (BFS) has found that women SME owners are more likely than men to suffer cashflow challenges, undermining their growth and ambitions. Only half (49%) of women business owners report that their cashflow is stable and meets their needs, compared to a significantly higher two thirds (66%) of male respondents. In…
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A new report has revealed that more than a quarter (26%) of small business owners believe that they will be forced to cease trading if the outlook for their business does not improve – a potentially detrimental blow to the UK economy. The SME Insights Report, published by small business insurance provider Simply Business, also found…
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UK-listed companies issued 66 profit warnings between April and June 2023, marking the highest second quarter total in three years, according to EY-Parthenon’s latest Profit Warnings report. The report found that warnings from UK-listed companies have risen year-on-year for the seventh consecutive quarter, the longest run of consecutive quarterly increases since 2008. The highest number of…
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Latest data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has shown that the annual rate of CPI inflation fell to 7.9% in June 2023. The figures is down from 8.7% in May and well below market expectations. Inflation peaked at 11.1% in October. Core CPI inflation (stripping out energy, food, alcohol and tobacco) finally fell…
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New research by Aldermore has found that £1.9 billion lost in income small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as a result of supply chain delays. 3.3 million (60% or three in five) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have experienced supply chain delays in the last year, losing an average of £625,000 in income each as a…
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The percentage of restaurant companies which are now making a profit (based on an analysis of the UK’s Top 100 restaurant companies) has doubled in the last year from 35% to 78% according to research by UHY Hacker Young. Several rounds of dramatic restructurings of those restaurant companies, which have taken place since the start…
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Deloitte’s quarterly survey of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) has shown that tighter monetary policy is considered the main threat to British businesses, with concerns over inflation and interest rates pushing ahead of fears about geopolitical issues and energy prices. Confidence among the finance leaders of the UK’s largest firms has dipped in the second quarter,…
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UK freelancers and small business owners continue to be struggle by the problem of late payment, according to new research by cloud accounting software company FreeAgent. Analysis of invoices sent by FreeAgent’s small business customers between June 2022 and June 2023 has revealed just under half (43%) of invoices sent over the past 12 months…
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Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the UK economy shrank by 0.1% in May, largely due to the extra bank holiday for the King’s Coronation. This is less than the 0.3% drop predicted by economists, however. The fall follows growth of 0.2% in April 2023, looking at the broader picture, GDP has…
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