Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Bank of England has held interest rates at 5% for a second month in a row. Commenting on the news, Anna Leach, Chief Economist of the Institute of Directors, said “Today’s 8-1 vote by the MPC for no change in rates was widely expected by markets and analysts. The Bank has indicated a “gradual…
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The Government has unveiled new measures to support small businesses and the self-employed by tackling late payments, which is costing small businesses £22,000 a year on average and leads to 50,000 business closures a year. The new Fair Payment Code will replace the old Prompt Payment Code, which will be open to signatories this autumn.…
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One in six business to business (B2B) sellers (suppliers) are offering business customers over two months to pay their invoices, according to a new joint report from economic consultancy Cebr and iwoca. The report reveals the number of suppliers offering repayment terms over 60 days to customers has surged from just 7% of suppliers in…
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A new survey by KMPG has found that business leaders see Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) as a positive disruptor. The research found that Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) see GenAI as an opportunity to change the nature of work. Two-thirds of CEOs (65% and 76% globally) see GenAI as a positive disruptor with 68% (65% globally) agreeing…
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Latest Office for National Statistics (ONS). data has shown that Inflation remained steady at 2.2 per cent in August, slightly above the Bank of England’s two per cent target. Rising airfares were balanced by lower fuel prices and a slowdown in restaurant price increases. The Bank of England is expected to keep interest rates at…
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The Lending Standards Board (LSB) is developing a first-of-its-kind inclusive Code to drive essential improvements in access to finance for Ethnic Minority-Led Businesses (EMBs). The Code’s development follows the publication of the LSB’s 2023 report on the barriers to finance faced by EMBs, which also underscored the crucial role that financial institutions can play in…
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Ahead of a ‘painful’ Budget expected this autumn, new research from independent SME funder Bibby Financial Services (BFS) reveals that UK SMEs consider tax incentives and access to finance as two critical areas that need to be addressed by the Government to unlock growth. Data from BFS’s Q3 2024 SME Confidence Tracker, which surveyed 1,000…
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A survey by Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance has found that 60% of small business owners have felt in the dark about the risks and 25% have backed out of a loan because it had a personal guarantee attached. Todd Davison, MD of Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance said “We welcome the strengthening provisions on personal guarantees by the Lending…
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The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has issued a fresh warning to customers to beware of misleading requests for payments, sent by unsolicited organisations. These typically take the form of invoices requesting payment for trade marks, designs, or patents services. Such ‘services’ – once paid for – may simply never be provided, or may be of little…
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Latest UK Finance data shows that overall gross lending was broadly stable at around £4 billion in Q2 2024. This is very similar to gross lending in Q1 2024, but again higher than a year previously when it was £3.6 billion. Growth in lending over the first half of this year varied across sectors and…
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The Lending Standards Board (LSB) has announced that it has strengthened provisions on personal guarantees within the Standards of Lending Practice for business customers (‘the business Standards’). The changes will help ensure lenders are clear with guarantors about what they are signing up to, and help avoid situations where a guarantor is surprised to find…
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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 July 2024 by 9% compared with the same month in 2023. In the seven months to July 2024, new business was 5% higher than in the same period in 2023. The…
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The UK economy unexpectedly failed to grow for the second month running in July with quarterly growth of 0.5% after also flatlining in June, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The monthly result reflects a modest rise in services output which was more than offset by declines in both Production and Construction Anna…
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