Debt charity, Business Debtline, has called for further action to support small business owners and self-employed people affected by late payments, where businesses are uncertain when the money they have earned will be paid. In its response to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s call for evidence on tackling late payments, the charity…
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The Bank of England has released its latest Money & Credit data indiating that consumer credit increased by £0.9 billion in October, similar to the previous few months, but below much of the period since 2016. Mortgage market activity remained broadly stable in October. The flow of mortgage lending increased to £4.1 billion in October…
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The average small business is owed £24,841 in late payments according to research by accounting software provider Xero.On any given day, 78% of businesses are owed money outside of agreed payment terms. The research was based on data taken from two million invoices issued by Xero’s UK small business subscriber base which showed that in…
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Accountancy and business advisory firms, BDO and Moore Stephens LLP, are in advanced merger discussions to create a market-leading firm. The new firm will be the leader in advising the UK’s entrepreneurial mid-sized businesses but will also challenge its larger competitors for more complex audit, tax and advisory work. The proposed deal further cements BDO’s…
Read moreResearch commissioned by Dun & Bradstreet revealed UK small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) confidence in future financial success is down 19% compared to last year. The study found that almost a third (32%) of respondents have considered leaving the UK to increase their chances of success. As well as ongoing uncertainty over Brexit impacting growth,…
Read moreUK Finance has released it’s business finance update for October 2018 which reveals that Lending to manufacturers grew by 6.9 percent over the last twelve months, in contrast to a 1.9 percent contraction in overall UK business borrowing. There was also annual growth in borrowing by the agriculture and accommodation sectors. The findings also revealed that…
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The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has announced a call for evidence to review of enforcement agent (bailiff) reforms. The call for evidence asks about people’s experiences of the 2014 reforms which regulate how enforcement agents (bailiffs) operate and to end what it calls intimidating practices and to better protect vulnerable people. The consultation has been…
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The UK online alternative finance market volume grew by 35 per cent in 2017, to £6.2 billion (from £4.6 billion in 2016), as peer-to-peer business lending became an increasingly important part of overall financing of smaller British businesses, according to the 5th UK Alternative Finance Industry Report by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF). Peer-to-peer…
Read moreIt is not relationship management or service orientation, but the analytical ability of a finance professional that is the most important skill to develop according to a FinTech Barometer from fintech company Onguard. The barometer shows that these new skills must be developed in order to add value in the future. Almost a third (30%)…
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Property and audit specialist Capa has announced the appointment of retail surveyor James Ratcliffe. Formerly head of retail at the Leeds office of property advisory business GVA, Ratcliffe has joined as a Director, taking responsibility for asset management of the 300-store estate of fashion retailer Bonmarchè. He joins the property team led by Capa’s co-founder and…
Read moreMid-size and Northern companies have the highest insolvency risk according to analysis from new statistics published by the Government. R3 has reviewed the number of England & Wales corporate insolvencies in 2017, broken down by company age, size and location. The research has found that: Enterprises aged 4-9 years old, or with turnover of £0.5-1m,…
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The proportion of Scottish companies at elevated risk of insolvency fell slightly between October and November, by 1.3% – the first monthly fall in nearly two years, according to research by insolvency and restructuring trade body R3. Just over one in three (35%) companies in Scotland is at higher than usual risk of insolvency in…
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Extra Energy, an energy supplier with about 108,000 domestic and 21,000 business customers, has ceased trading. It becomes the sixth energy company to cease trading this year. The other suppliers to cease trading this year were: Future Energy ( January) National Gas and Power (July) Iresa (July) Gen4U (September) Usio Energy (October) Under Ofgem’s safety…
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