Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Loans were taken out by small businesses to cover workforce costs spiked from 1% in March 2020 to 14% in April 2020, according to analysis by CapitalBox. CapitalBox research also found that 34% were unable to reinvest in their business to survive, 25% were unable to pay their employees whilst 25% turned down work. SMEs…
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SME owners are feeling more optimistic and are keen to invest in growth, but are being frustrated by the mix of financial options open to them, according to a survey from ACCA UK (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and The Corporate Finance Network (CFN). A total of 89% of owners are reporting that they…
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A third of businesses have been forced to review their future plans after being severely impacted by Covid-19, according to the latest CCW research. CCW’s ‘Testing the Waters survey’ also found that less than a quarter of business customers could recall receiving information from their water retailer about the help and support available to them with…
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More than one in four businesses that deferred tax payments during the initial lockdown last year still owe the HMRC. A total of 156,500 out of 590,000 businesses that utilised the Government’s VAT deferral between March and June have failed to make contact with HMRC to pay what they owe, even though the deadline to…
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The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) quarterly Small Business Index (SBI) has highlighted that debt, rising costs, skills shortages and international trade disruption are all causes for concern amongst SME firms. Whilst half of small business owners (50%) predict that their business performance will improve in the next three months, one in three (32%) expect…
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Latest Regional PMI data from NatWest showed an ongoing broad-based recovery in business activity and employment across the UK in June. Rates of growth in business activity generally remained strong, but eased since May in most cases. The rebound in demand for goods and services was accompanied by increasing inflationary pressures, with nine out of…
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Latest figures from the Insolvency Service have indicated a 19% increase in business insolvencies in England and Wales when compared to May’s figure of 1,014, and rose 62.9% compared to June 2020’s figure of 741. The number of registered company insolvencies in June 2021 was 1,207 this was 63% higher than the number registered in…
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The Bank of England’s latest Financial Stability Report, released this week, points to the particular vulnerability of the SME sector as the economy emerges from Covid-19 restrictions. The twice-yearly reports, compiled by the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee, has warned about increased corporate indebtedness, in particular amongst smaller firms with weaker balance sheets. As the economy…
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Demand for unsecured finance from SMEs is on the rise, according to iwoca’s quarterly SME Expert Index of UK brokers. The index, which covers a four-week period in May, found that over a third (38%) of brokers had submitted more lending applications for unsecured finance compared to the four weeks prior to that, suggesting that…
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Around 10% of Scottish construction companies and sub-contractors could close by the end of 2022 following the expiration of Covid-19 supports, a construction sector restructuring specialist at Azets has warned. With The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 introducing a number of temporary measures which are due to end on 30th September 2021, to provide protection for…
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New research from Hitachi Capital Business Finance has revealed that the percentage of small businesses predicting they will contract or scale down has hit its lowest level since the pandemic struck the UK and that there are now signs of bullish recovery from troubled sectors such as hospitality, leisure and retail for the summer months.…
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Businesses claimed back £11.5bn in overpaid corporation tax from HMRC last year, as Covid losses hit as the amount of overpaid corporation tax being repaid to businesses jumped 26% from £9.1 billion the year before according to analysis by UHY Hacker Young. The analysis says that businesses pay corporation tax based on forecast profits for…
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New research has revealed that business leaders overwhelmingly believe the state of UK infrastructure is restricting economic growth nationally, locally and within their own organisations. The survey by audit, tax and consulting firm RSM shows that nearly 70 per cent of the 400 UK middle market business leaders questioned believe the UK’s infrastructure* is hindering…
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