Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
A company director moved £100,000 in fraudulent Covid loans through family bank accounts Muhammadh Chaudhry, who previously went by the name of Masood Jamati, secured a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan for a media business in July 2020. The 41-year-old then fraudulently obtained another £50,000 loan for UK Media Kit Hire Ltd in September 2020, which…
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Gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 0.1% month on month in October for the second consecutive time and below expectations of 0.1% growth. GDP is estimated to have fallen largely because of a decline in production output; this follows a fall of 0.1% in September 2024. Real GDP is estimated to have grown by 0.1%…
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In the aftermath of the new Labour Government’s first Budget, businesses are looking to how best mitigate the impact of the announced rise in employee National Insurance (NI) with half of UK SMEs (50%) expecting the policy to hinder business growth, with 31% saying it will hinder their own business according to new research from…
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UK Debt Expert has warned that self-employed people and small business owners are facing mounting financial challenges as debt levels rise and expensive winter months approach. The recent Autumn Statement introduced changes that may add strain to small business finances, particularly with an increase in National Insurance contributions and Maxine McCreadie from UK Debt Expert has raised…
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A decorator has been banned and ordered to pay more than £100,000 in compensation after obtaining three Covid loans. The decorator secured three Covid Bounce Back Loans worth a combined £145,000 has been banned as a company director and ordered to pay compensation. Ruxanda Guja claimed £100,000 more than she was entitled to for her…
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UK business confidence has reached its lowest point in nearly two years, according to the latest Business Trends Report by BDO. The BDO optimism index fell by 5.81 points to 93.49 in November, marking the steepest month-on-month decline since 2021. Firms are grappling with rising costs, reduced customer confidence, and falling orders, leading to a…
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The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) says that the Government should step in to provide small firms with personal guarantee protection following from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s investigation into personal guarantees, Martin McTague, National Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said “The FCA’s investigation was severely undermined even before it got underway…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that total asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) grew in October 2024 by 4% compared with the same month in 2023. In the ten months to October 2024, new business was also 4% higher than in the same period in 2023.…
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Energy company, Maxen Power has paid £1.65 million for customer service failures. Maxen Power supplies more than 10,000 non-domestic energy customers. A recent investigation carried out by energy regulator Ofgem found that Maxen Power breached its licence conditions by not having robust systems in place to protect its customers. This allowed third-party reps to sign…
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More than eight in ten (81%) UK small businesses are prioritising new initiatives to boost their overall growth prospects for 2025. Increasing new business sales (43%) and reducing fixed costs (24%) are priority areas business owners want to focus on – but there’s also evidence the recent changes to employers’ National Insurance could significantly impact…
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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) expects the UK economy to grow at a slower pace this year than it had previously forecast. However, it has upgraded its growth forecast for next year. The think-tank expects 0.9% growth this year, down from 1.1%, while 2025 is forecast to see growth of 1.7%, up…
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The Government has announced the launch of a new Fair Payment Code aimed at tackling late payments, with research showing that SMEs are on average owed £22,000 a year. It comes on top of an earlier announced consultation which will investigate the scale of the problem and best solutions. The code, overseen by the Small Business…
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Economic uncertainty is on the rise for the UK’s 5.6 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) following the Autumn Budget, according to iwoca’s Q3 2024 SME Expert Index. The percentage of brokers reporting pessimism among their SME clients about the future has more than doubled, rising from 15% last quarter to 34%. Meanwhile, only one…
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