Ahead of the Autumn Budget, the Institute of Directors has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer summarising the policy changes that it believes would have the greatest positive impact on the rate of sustainable economic growth in the UK. In its Budget submission, the IoD has set out key recommendations for the Chancellor in the following…
Read moreThe British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has warned that the UK economy is set to grow at a slower pace, with gross domestic product (GDP) expected to decline to 0.4% in the third quarter and 0.2% in the final quarter of the year. The BCC expects the UK economy to grow by 1.1% for 2024,…
Read moreThe sole director of a data processing and equipment sourcing business has been disqualified for the maximum period allowed under law after obtaining £145,000 in Covid support scheme funds his business was not entitled to. Richard Oliver was the director of Exact Data Trading Co. Ltd when it falsely secured a total of £95,000 from…
Read moreA London taxi driver hit with 11-year sanctions after falsely claiming £100,000 of Bounce Back Loans and failed to spend the money on his businesses. The investigation found that Ahmad claimed £50,000 for his delivery business in July 2020, the maximum allowed under the scheme. He applied for a second £50,000 loan – this time…
Read moreA Derby-based business consultant who fraudulently obtained two Covid loans worth a combined £100,000 has been handed a suspended sentence. Imran Mushtaq was the sole director of IZ Business Consultants Limited when he applied for two Bounce Back Loans for the company in June 2020. Mushtaq was sentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended for…
Read moreThe UK’s inflation rate has risen for the first time this year as annualised inflation came in at 2.2% in July, higher than the 2.0% reported in June. Core CPI (excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco) rose by 3.3% (down from 3.5%) and services inflation fell from 5.7% to 5.2%. Commenting on the inflation figures,…
Read moreA construction contractor has been banned as company director after Covid loan abuse. An Insolvency Service investigation found that Nick Addison submitted misleading information to obtain a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan, the maximum amount businesses were entitled to. Addison was the owner of a former Bedfordshire construction firm which mainly focused on dry lining and…
Read moreA 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,…
Read moreA 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…
Read moreThe 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…
Read moreNew 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…
Read moreNearly one in 12 SMEs, around 440,000 firms, say they have missed tax payment deadlines in the past year with a third of them admitting to missing five or more, new research from Premium Credit. The study with SME owners and managers found 8% of the UK’s 5.55 million SMEs have missed tax payment deadlines for…
Read moreCredit Connect Media hosted the return of its Commercial Credit & Collections Conference last week at the Met Hotel in Leeds which saw trade credit, insolvency, and economic change and discussed by fourteen leading credit, collections and insolvency professionals. In the sixth edition of the Commercial Credit & Collections Conference series, hosted by Credit Connect…
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