Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
An Oxfordshire landscaping boss who ignored his director ban and left £300,000 in unpaid tax across two firms has been banned from running companies for 12 years. Neil Aldridge was initially banned for three-and-a-half years in 2019 after his company, Neil Aldridge Landscapes Ltd, went into liquidation owing at least £82,650 to HM Revenue and…
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Rising tax and cost pressures forced more than one in five (21%) SME bosses to lay off staff last year, according to a survey commissioned by Rathbones. A targeted poll of more than 1,000 SME founders, owners and senior executives reveals a challenging landscape for business leaders, with cost pressures – including business rates and national…
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New data from Novuna Business Finance has revealed the first green shoots of a potentially new upward trend in small business growth forecasts. Following a worrying 18-month period since mid-2024, when the percentage of small businesses predicting growth fell for five-consecutive quarters, to a five-year low of 25%, January 2026 sees an upturn, with 27%…
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A Covid fraudster has been sentenced after illegally obtaining a second Bounce Back Loan for his company when businesses were only entitled to one. Jobanputra applied for two £50,000 Bounce Back Loans for his printing business, Genesis Web Limited, within a five-day period in the summer of 2020. The 41-year-old fraudulently declared on the second…
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Pubs and music venues in England will be given a 15% discount on their business rates bills from April and will not see increases for two years. It comes after a backlash against November’s Budget, which left many facing major increases in their business rates bills, and led to more than a thousand pubs banning…
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A Yorkshire waste operator has been sentenced after illegally acting as a company director while bankrupt. Jonathan Waldron was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, when he appeared at York Crown Court on Wednesday 21 January. Waldron was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £1,000.…
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More than one in five SMEs say international trade tariff disputes remain the biggest challenge facing their business, according to new research from FTSE 250 lender Paragon Bank. Nearly a year since Donald Trump set out a range of global tariffs and as geopolitical tensions continue over Greenland, the study of 1,000 small and medium-sized…
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A convicted fraudster who secured £150,000 in Covid support for mobile phone shops in England and Wales has been ordered to repay all the money. Zahid Afzal made two legitimate applications for Bounce Back Loans totalling £52,500 on behalf of his companies Phone Bits Limited and Phones Onn Ltd, in 2020. However, Afzal then exploited…
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New research from Direct Line Business Insurance shows late payments are worsening across the trades sector, with over two-thirds (68%) of tradespeople currently chasing at least one overdue invoice, with the average amount owed standing at £2,023. Over half of the trades sector (53%) says they are experiencing more late payments than a year ago..…
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A bankrupt builder from Derby has been jailed after illegally obtaining more than £400,000 for home improvement projects. Nigel Dinneen secured advance payments from five victims in the Midlands without disclosing to them that he had been declared bankrupt in July 2019, as he was legally required to do. Dinneen was sentenced to 12 months…
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Latest analysis by BDO of retail sales showed that December marked the worst set of total monthly sales figures since November 2024, with total like-for-like retail sales dropping by -1.4% in December. In-store sales fell by -0.5% and online sales by -0.6%, compared to December 2024, as sales volumes declined across channels. This follows disappointing…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it has fined two former finance directors for their part in misleading statements being issued by Carillion plc. Richard Adam and Zafar Khan were both aware of serious financial troubles in Carillion’s UK construction business but failed to reflect this in company announcements or alert the board…
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The British Retail Consortium has warned that shop price inflation is likely to remain elevated into 2026 as retailers face ongoing labour, logistics and compliance costs. Latest data shows that shop price inflation picked up to 0.7% year on year in December, against growth of 0.6% in November. This is in line with the 3-month…
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