Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The HMRC applied to shut down 4,160 businesses in 2018, due to these UK businesses having “fallen behind” on their tax payments last year. according to new statistics by Funding Options. The report cited that HMRC has been too aggressive in their approach when shutting down businesses. Conrad Ford, CEO of Funding Options. said “The…
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The Insolvency Service has published its latest enforcement outcomes. The statistics show that the total number of directors disqualified for misconduct remained around the same as in 2017/18. The average period of disqualification obtained fell slightly compared to 2017/18. The number of bankruptcy and debt relief restrictions was broadly flat compared to 2017/18. The average…
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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published its final report with recommendations to address serious competition problems in the UK audit industry. Legislation is needed to address both the vulnerability of the industry to the loss of one of the Big 4, and the current inadequate choice and competition. The CMA is recommending the…
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The Small Business Commissioner, Paul Uppal, has highlighted poor supplier payment practices at Holland & Barrett, following the publication of his report into a late payment complaint made by a small business. The official complaint was logged with the Small Business Commissioner by the London-based technology consultancy after Holland & Barrett failed to pay a…
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Dun & Bradstreet has been confirmed as a designated Credit Reference Agency (CRA) by HM Treasury and is one of four CRAs able to receive credit data from the designated banks. The commercial credit data sharing scheme was launched as part of the UK Government’s commitment to support SME growth and requires nine leading banks…
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A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found that the four main regulators – Ofwat, Ofgem, Ofcom and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – understand the significant difficulties facing consumers across utilities, communications and financial services markets, but cannot prove if they are effectively responding to consumer concerns or offering enough protection for…
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Almost one in four SMEs see political uncertainty as one of the biggest obstacles facing their business, according to a major survey of over 4,500 small firms. The latest BVA BDRC SME Finance Monitor has found that 24 percent of SMEs now see political uncertainty as a major barrier to their business going forward, up…
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Large companies will have to report on their payment practices every year in the first step of a crackdown to end small businesses being paid late, the Chancellor has announced as part of the Government’s spring statement. Philip Hammond said the Government will require companies to review their payment practices through their audit committees, with…
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Dun & Bradstreet’s 2019 Compliance and Procurement Sentiment report finds that confidence around the effectiveness to prevent fraud, manage regulation & Brexit-related change and identify environmental, social and governance concerns (ESG) has dropped. The findings show that confidence in the current effectiveness of compliance and procurement decision makers is down 7% since June 2018, with…
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Small businesses want the Government to use today’s Spring Statement to show that the Government is serious about tackling poor payment practices in the UK. At last year’s Spring Statement, a Call to Evidence on late payments was announced with the Chancellor pledging that the Government would eliminate the scourge of late payments. This pledge…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) will soon be able to require financial services firms to pay significantly more compensation to consumers and businesses. From 1 April, the current £150,000 limit will increase to £350,000 for complaints about actions by firms on or after that date. For complaints about…
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The Government are not acting quickly enough to introduce a tougher regime to tackle larger companies who enforce long payment terms or pay their suppliers late, says Rachel Reeves MP, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee as she commented on the Government’s response to the BEIS Committee Small businesses and productivity report. The BEIS Committee report,…
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The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is urging the Government to help arrest a continued slump in small business optimism at next week’s Spring Statement. Published today, data from FSB’s latest quarterly SBI shows confidence among smaller firms remains negative in Q1 2019 (-5.0), down from +6.0 in the same period last year. This marks…
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