Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The IoD Directors’ Economic Confidence Index, which measures business leader optimism in prospects for the UK economy, bounced to +7 in July 2024, from -14 in June. This is the highest result that the Index has registered since July 2021 (+22), which was also the last time the Index was positive. The underlying indicators showed…
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Optimism in British companies has reached its highest level in over seven years, according to a survey by Lloyds Bank. The bank’s Business Barometer shows that trading prospects for the next 12 months rose to 56% in July, up from 44% in June. This is the highest level since April 2017. The survey also found…
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A new SME insights report by Dojo has revealed that an estimated 110,940 SMEs are at risk of going bust due to having no cash left to support business operations. The study also revealed that over 30% of SMEs cited rising inflation and high interest rates as their biggest challenge for 2024. Additionally, 1 in…
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Optimism among senior executives at some of Britain’s biggest businesses has increased after Labour’s landslide general election, according to Deloitte’s latest survey of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs). The study shows that risk appetite is up, fears about uncertainty have retreated sharply, and revenue growth predictions are rising. The survey found that a net 23% of…
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Late payments to UK small businesses surged over the last three months, with payments delayed by more than a week on average, according to the latest research by Xero. Payments to small businesses were made 7.3 days late, on average, between April and June. This is an increase of 1.8 days compared to the January…
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A Bristol builder who overstated the income from his construction companies to secure two Covid Bounce Back Loans totalling £100,000 has been handed a suspended sentence. James Leslie was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 18 months, when he appeared at Bristol Crown Court. His father William Leslie and of the same address,…
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A new paper geared at unleashing a new wave of small business exporters has been released by the Government. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) was asked to lead on an SME Export Taskforce by Jonathan Reynolds MP when he was Shadow Business and Trade Secretary, to address the fact that only 10 per cent…
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The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a letter from its Chair, Klaas Knot, to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, ahead of the G20 meeting on 25-26th July. In his letter, Knot highlights historically high debt levels of both government and private sector borrowers and vulnerabilities in real estate markets and Non-Bank Financial…
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New analysis by Forvis Mazars has found that the HMRC has collected an extra £14.4 million in tax from insolvencies since it regained its ‘preferential creditor’ status in insolvencies. HMRC was given ‘Crown Preference’ priority in insolvencies in December 2020. That preferred status allows it to reclaim tax owed from an insolvent business ahead of any…
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UK-listed companies issued 49 profit warnings between April and June 2024, the lowest quarterly total since 2021, according to EY-Parthenon’s latest Profit Warnings report. The report found that profit warnings from UK-listed companies fell 26% compared with Q2 2023. The highest number of Q2 warnings recorded by EY-Parthenon was in 2020, when 166 were issued.…
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New research by Novuna Business Cash Flow has found that 33% (a third) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK urgently require financial support within the next year to continue their operations. This survey highlights the heavy reliance on personal sources of finance, with 19% of SMEs resorting to using their own savings,…
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UK inflation held at two per cent in the year to June, unchanged from May, mostly driven by a rise in hotel and restaurant prices and a fall in clothing and shoes, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Core inflation, which excludes the price of fuel and food, remained…
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More small businesses applied for finance to support growth initiatives in Quarter 2 (Q2) 2024, with funding released at more than at any other time in the past three years according to the latest analysis by Purbeck Insurance Services. The data showed that 19% of small business owners securing personal guarantee-backed loans in Q2 were…
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