Government bans bailiffs visits during pandemic lockdown

28th April 2020 Consumer Collections |

The UK’s largest debt advice charities have welcomed emergency legislation banning bailiffs from visiting homes to enforce debts during Covid-19 restrictions – but say the Government ‘must go further’ in helping people struggling with council tax bills as a result of the outbreak. Citizens Advice, Money Advice Trust and StepChange Debt Charity raised concerns with…

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Small business sector just weeks away from collapse

28th April 2020 Commercial Credit Management |

The Chancellor has just days to act to support struggling small businesses, to save the millions of jobs they represent, and to prevent many of the UK’s three million self-employed workers losing their livelihoods according to a new report by TaxAssist Accountants. The research shows that more than nine out of ten (93%) have significant…

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Northern Ireland business debt judgements fall by 27%

27th April 2020 Commercial Credit Management |

The number of judgments against businesses in Northern Ireland. fell 27 percent in the last quarter. Total and average values rose by 38 and 89 percent respectively. There fewer cases consisting of larger value. The total value of Northern Irish business judgments reached almost the £1 million mark this quarter. Businesses owed 24 percent of…

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Business CCJs decrease by 6%

27th April 2020 Commercial Credit Management |

County Court Judgments (CCJs) against businesses England and Wales fell six percent in Q1 (January-March) 2020, compared to the same quarter in 2019, according to figures released by Registry Trust. The number of CCJs against businesses decreased from 35,781 in Q1 2019 to 33,520 in Q1 2020. The total value of judgments saw an increase…

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Calls for Government to scrap Finance Bill proposals

27th April 2020 Commercial Credit Management |

Ahead of the second reading of the Finance Bill on today  (27th) April, Duncan Swift, President of insolvency and restructuring trade body R3, has called on the Government to scrap proposals to make HMRC a preferential creditor in insolvencies. R3 says that there has been widespread concern that the proposals will have a significant negative…

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Scottish business decrees rise by 29%

24th April 2020 Commercial Credit Management |

The number of decrees against Scottish businesses rose by 29 percent over the period according to the latest figures from the Registry Trust. Decrees numbers increased from 561 to 722 in Q1 (January-March) 2020. The total value of decrees against businesses fell 5%, to just under £3million. The average value also fell by 10% as…

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Temporary measures announced to protect high street shops from landlord rent collection

24th April 2020 Commercial Credit Management |

The UK government has temporarily banned landlords from using winding-up orders and from what the government calls aggressive debt recovery tactics against retailers while the COVID-19 crisis continues.  The Business Secretary has set out new measures to protect high street shops and other companies under strain.  The companies will be asked to pay what they…

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Unpaid business invoices increase by 23%

23rd April 2020 Commercial Credit Management |

The number of unpaid UK business invoices has increased by 23% according to new tracker by AI platform provider, Sidetrade. Sidetrade’s tracker is based on a statistical analysis of 26 million invoices, representing €54bn of business to business transactions with the payment behaviour of over 3.7 million businesses is tracked week by week. The company…

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Business Credit Reference Agencies agree support package

22nd April 2020 Commercial Credit Management |

Experian, and other credit reference agencies (CRAs), have confirmed new guidance to protect business credit scores during the Covid-19 pandemic. Lenders can now offer an ‘emergency payment freeze’ to businesses that may be worried about meeting regular payments because of the pandemic. Once agreed, lenders should not report a build-up of arrears to the four…

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One in four companies are suffering badly in current crisis

22nd April 2020 Commercial Credit Management |

More than one in four UK companies are being heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. That is the conclusion of the business intelligence specialist Graydon which it says is based on the financial health of UK businesses and the current economic situation. Graydon estimates that of all companies that identified as healthy at the beginning…

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Just appoints permanent Group CCO

21st April 2020 Commercial Credit Management |

Enforcement solutions specialist Just has announced that Scott Collin has accepted the permanent role of Group Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). Collin will sit on the boards of both Just and its sister company, Arum. Collin has been working with Just since its launch last year and with Arum since the beginning of 2019, following more…

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Third of SMEs to run out of cash by July

21st April 2020 Commercial Credit Management |

A third of UK SMEs will be unable to cover their costs by the end of July despite an unprecedented £330bn package of loans and guarantees from the Government, according to the latest research from Bibby Financial Services (BFS). The new study of SMEs shows this number rising to more than half should the lockdown…

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Virus pushes financially distressed companies over the half-million mark

20th April 2020 Commercial Credit Management |

Latest Red Flag Alert data for Q1 2020 found there were large numbers of UK businesses experiencing significant financial distress at the end of March 2020, with the overall figure now exceeding half a million for the first time. New research from insolvency and advisory Begbies Traynor Group, has found that the largest quarterly increase…

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