Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The UK’s top 100 restaurants made an £82 million loss in the last year, down from a pre-tax profit of £102 million twelve months ago according to new research by UHY Hacker Young. Pre-tax profits at the UK’s Top 100 restaurant groups have fallen from £345 million since the first quarter of 2017. The huge…
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The proportion of small businesses predicting growth for the next three-months has fallen to 34% – its lowest level for eight successive quarters and, for the first time, the proportion of businesses predicting significant expansion has fallen below 5%. The new research from Hitachi Capital Business Finance asked a nationally representative sample of 1,184 small…
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Dun & Bradstreet’s 2019 Global Bankruptcy report has revealed that business failures have declined globally, despite increased economic challenges. However, with global economic challenges on the rise, most regions are forecasted to grow more slowly than in 2018, with the number of business failures forecast to increase in the coming months. Forty-nine percent (49%) of…
Read moreIn the Asia Pacific region, the number of businesses taking a more strategic approach to credit management is increasing according to new research by Atradius. While global GDP growth is forecast to slow from 3.2% in 2018 to 2.7% this year, global insolvencies are expected to rise 2%. As an integral part of the global…
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Fifteen of the seventeen businesses highlighted for poor payment practice in May have filed action plans or are preparing submissions to improve their treatment of smaller suppliers, demonstrating the effectiveness of the Prompt Payment Code. Philip King, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM), says firms have responded positively to approaches by…
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British Steel has been placed in compulsory liquidation, putting 5,000 jobs at risk and with the knock-on effect endangering 20,000 in the supply chain. The Government’s Official Receiver has taken control of the company as part of the liquidation process. In a statement, the Official Receiver said that the immediate priority its appointment as liquidator…
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Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s British restaurant chain filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, mainly due to increased competition and escalating rents in local commercial districts according to reports. The insolvency will leave 1,000 people out of work. Oliver wrote on Twitter “I’m devastated that our much-loved UK restaurants have gone into administration, I am deeply…
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HMRC is continuing its campaign of targeting restaurants and takeaways as financial stress makes tax evasion more tempting for smaller operators in the sector, says the accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO. According to BDO, restaurants and takeaways account for 26% (200 of 775)* of businesses ‘named and shamed’ by HMRC as ‘deliberate tax defaulters’ since…
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A report detailing the major economic and political updates of North American markets has been published by global trade credit insurer Atradius. The Atradius North American Country Report is a free publication for any business that is trading, or seeking to trade, within the region. Richard Reynolds, head of Strategic Accounts for Atradius UK, said…
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The Department for Education has confirmed it petitioned the High Court for Hadlow College to be placed into “education administration”, under the insolvency regime created by the Technical and Further Education Act 2017. The High Court is expected to respond on 22nd May. Insolvency practitioners BDO are understood to have been lined up as the…
Read moreNew research by fraud investigation technology provider HooYu has identified loopholes at Companies House that enables individuals to register as a director, to run businesses and to enable fraud and money laundering, even after they have been struck-off from holding company directorships. The analysis also uncovered over 500 so-called “chameleon” directors who have been disqualified…
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The latest statistics from the Valuation Office Agency’s ‘Check, Challenge, Appeal’ business rates system show a 97% drop in the number of businesses challenging their rates bills in the last two years in England, compared to the two years following the previous revaluation. Responding to the figures, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) National Chairman Mike…
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Credit Insurance specialist Euler Hermes has issued its annual review and forecast of global average Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), based on a sample of 25,000 listed companies across 20 sectors and 36 countries. Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) is a measure of how long it takes companies to collect cash from customers. Euler Hermes’ study shows…
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