Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures have shown that inflation, fell to 10.5% in the year to December, compared to 10.7% in November. The drop was due to fuel prices falling along with clothing and footwear prices, however, this was offset by rising costs in restaurants and hotels. The cost of food also continued…
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Small businesses on fixed rate energy deals face a surge in their bills when the Government’s current Energy Bill Relief Scheme ends. As of April, a cap on the price of gas and electricity will be replaced by a new scheme which offers a much less generous discount on energy bills. The Government has set…
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More than half of small businesses are looking to use finance to achieve growth in the coming year (53%) according to new research from Novuna Business Finance. The figures indicate that this is up from 49% this time last year, with hiring new staff found to be the activity most likely to be reliant on…
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The UK economy unexpectedly grew in November, with Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showing growth of 0.1%. While the figure shows a slowdown in growth after a 0.5% increase in October, analysts had predicted that the economy would shrink by 0.3% in November. The expansion was driven by the services industry, which saw a…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that total asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) grew in November 2022 by 12% compared with the same month in 2021. In the eleven months to November 2022, new business was 5% higher than in the same period in 2021. The…
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A quarterly survey of the UK’s financial services firms shows that confidence in the sector increased in the three months to December. An index of confidence rose to 10 from -55 in the prior three-month period, with 95 of the firms reporting higher business volumes and employment growth in the period according to the latest CBI/PwC…
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The World Bank has warned that the global economy is perilously close to falling into recession, pointing to higher inflation and interest rates among the factors that could hit growth. The World Bank expects the world economy to grow by 1.7% this year, this down from the 3% it predicted in June. Growth of 1.7%…
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The Government has announced that it will reduce support for businesses with energy bills after warning that the current level of help was too expensive. Under the new scheme, firms will get a discount on wholesale prices rather than costs being capped as under the current one. Heavy energy-using sectors, like glass, ceramics and steelmakers,…
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According to the latest PMI data by IHS Markit and CIPS, the headline construction PMI dropped below 50 to 48.8 in December 2022, down from 50.4 in November 2022, continuing the previous downward trend, with activity and new work declining at the fastest rate since May 2020. New orders also fell to 48 in December,…
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Trade credit insurance specialist Allianz Trade, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce payments platform, Two and Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB), have partnered to provide the first global business-to-business (B2B) Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution for large multinational corporates. This is the first partnership of its kind. The result is a game changer product for global online…
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Food inflation hit 13.3 per cent in December, up from 12.4 per cent in November, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) shop price index. The rise marks the highest monthly inflation rate for food since records began in 2005. The data highlights that fresh food costs contributed most to the rise, which shows an…
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A quarterly survey by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has revealed that British businesses are nearly as pessimistic as they were in the midst of the pandemic, as they brace for a drop in profit during a recession in 2023. The percentage of firms reporting increased domestic sales has stabilised at the low level…
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The Institute of Directors (IoD) Economic Confidence Index, which measures business leader optimism in prospects for the UK economy, rose slightly to -58 in December, up from -64 in November. The index also showed that was also slight improvements in expectations for revenue, employment, investment and in directors’ optimism for the prospects of their own…
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