Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Rising insolvencies and supply chain shocks are quickly depleting emergency cash cushions, according to trade credit insurer Atradius. The report shows that UK SMEs face a widening resilience gap— the difference between the cost of escalating business risks and the limited accessible liquidity they hold to withstand them. Cash buffers that once offered protection are…
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New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that total asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) in August 2025 fell by 3% compared with the same month in 2024. In the eight months to August 2025, new business was 1% higher than in the same period in 2024.…
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Wesleyan Group has appointed Faraz Tasnim as its Chief Operating Officer (COO) to support the next phase of its ambitious growth strategy. Tasnim joined Wesleyan from Quilter in 2022 as Group Transformation Director, bringing 20 years’ experience across transformation, commercial finance and consulting roles with businesses including Direct Line Group, Hastings Direct, Lloyds Banking Group…
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Credit management technology specialist, My DSO Manager, has announced that it has appointed Luke Sculthorp FCICM as Commercial Director for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sculthorp joins directly from the senior leadership team at CICM, where he led strategic partnerships and championed professional development across the credit community. A CICM Fellow and former Credit Manager…
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The boss of a glazing firm who fraudulently applied for two Covid Bounce Back loans and spent significant sums on gambling and crypto investments has received a sentence of 22 months in custody, suspended for two years. Just months into the pandemic, Haralombos Ioannou secured two maximum-value £50,000 Bounce Back Loans when businesses were only…
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Business confidence sank to its lowest level in three years as record high tax worries ravaged firms ahead of next month’s Budget, according to research by ICAEW’s Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) quarterly index. Sentiment in Q3 stood at -7.3, down from -4.2 in the previous quarter. Confidence is now at its weakest level since Q4…
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4D Contact has announced that it has appointed Martin Kirby as its new Non-Executive Director. Kirby has over 30 years of leadership experience across Business Stream, Kier Group, Adecco UK, and Bupa Healthcare. Alongside his MBA from INSEAD, Martin is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (FCICM) and an active member of its…
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Business volumes in the financial services (FS) sector fell at the quickest rate since June 2020 in the third quarter of 2025, according to the latest CBI data. Despite the sharp deterioration in activity, sentiment was broadly flat in the three months to September, marking an improvement compared with the previous quarter’s steep drop. The…
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New data from Purbeck Insurance Services has found that loans to small and medium-sized enterprises are showing record levels of funding being secured, along with a strong demand for personal guarantee insurance (PGI) protection for business owners. The data shows the average loan secured has risen to £289,827 from £204,035 in Q3 2024 – a 42%…
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The percentage of small business owners predicting growth has fallen for the fourth consecutive Quarter to a new five-year low (25%) – and in every industry sector, the percentage of enterprises predicting growth is down on the start of the year, according to new tracking research from Novuna Business Finance. Following last summer’s General Election…
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The UK economy grew just 0.3% in the second quarter (Q2), down from 0.7 per cent in the first, according to latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) Growth slowed from 0.7% in Q1, with services up 0.4% and construction up 1.0%, offset by a 0.8% fall in production. The figures show resilience but also highlight…
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The Institute of Directors’ (IoD) latest Economic Confidence Index, which measures business leader optimism in prospects for the UK economy, fell to -74 in September 2025 from -61 in August. This exceeds the recent record low of -72 in July 2025 and marks the lowest reading of the Index since its introduction in July 2016.…
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Optimism among businesses has declined sharply over the last month according to latest analysis by Lloyds Bank. After four months of elevated confidence, September saw a return to levels seen in the first part of the year. The latest Lloyds Business Barometer saw a reduction of 12 points in September, with confidence remaining above the…
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