Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) has released official statistics reporting company insolvencies in Scotland for the second quarter (July to September 2019) of 2019-20. The number of Scottish registered companies becoming insolvent or entering receivership increased slightly in the second quarter of 2019-20, with 235 companies becoming insolvent compared with 232 in the same quarter of…
Read moreInternational accounting and advisory firm Mazars has published a study canvassing public opinion on the UK economy and the audit system The study indicates that the public strongly supports audit reform, with nearly two-thirds (62%) stating that they don’t have trust in the current audit system to provide independent and accurate assessments of a company’s…
Read more681,000 UK individuals and businesses are so far behind on their tax bills that they have been forced to reschedule their payments with HMRC, research UHY Hacker Young shows. Taxpayers are able to reschedule their tax payments with HMRC by agreeing ‘time to pay’ arrangements. These allow taxpayers to pay their taxes over a longer…
Read moreThe Federation of Small Business (FSB) is calling on Sajid Javid to bring forward radical interventions to address an unprecedented long-term slump in small business confidence, slowing economic growth and a widening trade deficit when he publishes the 2019 Autumn Budget on 6th November. Writing to the Chancellor, the group calls for a major reduction…
Read moreThe Office for National Statistics (ONS) data has shown that UK retail sales were flat last month after a decline in August, with volumes in the three months to September up 0.6% on the previous quarter. An increase in online sales in July was largely responsible for the growth. Sales were up 3.1% year-on-year in…
Read moreNew research from Begbies Traynor has revealed that numbers of businesses in significant1 financial distress has increased 40% in the three years since the EU referendum, affecting 489,000 UK businesses with the real estate and property, construction, retail and travel sectors the most severely affected. The latest data for Q3 2019 found that a large…
Read moreChief Finance Officers (CFOs) are intensifying their focus on cost control, with 58% saying it is a strong priority for the next 12 months, according to Deloitte’s latest CFO Survey. This is the highest level for ten years. Almost two-thirds of CFOs (65%) say their business faces high or very high levels of external financial…
Read moreTwo in five small business owners (40%) say they are taking legal action against customers not paying them on time and many bosses are foregoing their own salary in order to ensure their employees get paid on time – according to new research from Hitachi Capital Business Finance One in five business owners (20%) are even…
Read moreOver three quarters (76%) of freelancers have experienced mental health issues as a result of late paying clients in the last 12 months, according to new research. In its latest report Late Payments: The Cost to Business and Our Health, Hitachi Capital has investigated the mental health impact of late payments on the UK’s SMEs…
Read moreOne third (33%) of UK businesses are concerned about the potential impact Brexit will have on their suppliers and customers, according to new research from R3, the insolvency and restructuring body. The research, a survey of 1,200 senior business financial decision-makers, carried out for R3 by BVA BDRC, found that 11% of businesses have reviewed…
Read moreRising costs are the greatest challenge facing small businesses around the world, according to the latest Global Business Monitor study from global SME partner, Bibby Financial Services (BFS) and global leader in trade credit insurance Euler Hermes. Findings of the research, based on a survey of more than 2,300 SMEs in 13 countries across Asia,…
Read moreGlobal insolvencies are rising for the first time in a decade with the greatest uptick seen in the UK, reports leading economists at trade credit insurer Atradius. The Insolvency Outlook report by Atradius forecasts business failure rates in developed markets will increase by 2.8% this year – the first rise since the global financial crisis.…
Read moreSmall firms are calling on the Government to secure a Brexit deal and come forward with radical policy interventions to arrest a dogged lack of confidence among business owners as new FSB research shows rising costs and uncertainty increasingly taking their toll.Its SBI confidence measure stands at -8.1 in Q3 2019, down more than six…
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