Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Over half (54%) of the UK’s SMEs, equating to 3.1 million businesses, admit they had not prepared in any way for Brexit ahead of the 31 October deadline according to the latest Q3 SME Confidence Tracker from Bibby Financial Services. Fewer SMEs are investing and the amount they are investing on average has also fallen.…
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Responding to the speech delivered by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn this morning, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) National Chairman Mike Cherry, said “It’s very positive to see the Labour party putting late payments and business rates at the top of its business agenda.” “Our late payment crisis remains the biggest scourge afflicting the UK’s small…
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The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is calling on all political parties to put the self-employed community front and centre when drawing-up business policies for their election manifestos as its latest research shows confidence among sole traders in negative territory for five consecutive quarters. Fresh findings from its full Q3 SBI report, published today, show…
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Fresh figures from the Valuation Office Agency show that a new business rates appeal platform has caused the number of firms registering a challenge to their bill to fall by 94% across England. The Check, Challenge, Appeal (CCA) system was established in April 2017 to coincide with the most recent business rates revaluation. Following its…
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Twenty firms – including IBM and Unilever – have been suspended from the Prompt Payment Code for failing to pay suppliers on time, the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) have announced. Diageo, GlaxoSmithKline and Kier businesses are also among those that have failed to honour their Code commitment to pay 95% of all supplier…
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The Treasury Committee has published a unanimously-agreed report on the Impact of Business Rates on Business. The Government must explain whether it is deliberate that, since Business Rates were introduced in their current form in 1990, the revenue they have generated has outpaced inflation. Throughout this inquiry, the Committee has been told that Business Rates…
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A landmark judgment could see company directors and shareholders pursued for millions of pounds for funds paid into tax avoidance schemes. The ruling, handed down by Chief Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Briggs, will see the directors and shareholders of Implement Consulting Ltd having to pay back over £3 million to the company and its creditors…
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The Insolvency Service has published its latest England & Wales insolvency statistics for Q3 2019 (July-September) indicating that underlying corporate insolvencies (seasonally adjusted) rose by 0.4% in Q3 2019 compared to Q2 2019, and rose by 1.6% compared to Q3 2018. There were 4,355 total company insolvencies in England and Wales which was 0.4 per…
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Around 1.5 million businesses face a greater risk of having their energy supply disconnected than the average household, and of exploitation by unscrupulous energy brokers. This is all due to a lack of protections in the microbusiness market, according to a new report from Citizens Advice. Microbusinesses, which make up 96% of all UK businesses,…
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International accounting and advisory firm Mazars has published a study canvassing public opinion on the UK economy and the audit system The study indicates that the public strongly supports audit reform, with nearly two-thirds (62%) stating that they don’t have trust in the current audit system to provide independent and accurate assessments of a company’s…
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Ofgem has appointed Total Gas and Power to take on supplying Rutherford Energy Supply Limited’s (trading as Uttily Energy) 280 business customers. This follows an appointment process run by Ofgem to get the best deal possible for customers. For existing customers, energy supplies will continue as normal as they switch over to Total Gas and…
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681,000 UK individuals and businesses are so far behind on their tax bills that they have been forced to reschedule their payments with HMRC, research UHY Hacker Young shows. Taxpayers are able to reschedule their tax payments with HMRC by agreeing ‘time to pay’ arrangements. These allow taxpayers to pay their taxes over a longer…
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The Federation of Small Business (FSB) is calling on Sajid Javid to bring forward radical interventions to address an unprecedented long-term slump in small business confidence, slowing economic growth and a widening trade deficit when he publishes the 2019 Autumn Budget on 6th November. Writing to the Chancellor, the group calls for a major reduction…
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