Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
A third of the 1.1 million UK SMEs with EU suppliers would be unable to operate without imports from the bloc, according to the latest SME Confidence Tracker from independent financial services provider, Bibby Financial Services (BFS). The research news comes as a potential ‘no-deal’ Brexit threatens to disrupt trade between the UK and EU, and…
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The Director of a financing company has received a ten-year ban after heading a false invoice scheme to secure £4 million of illegitimate funds. David Marsden, from Exeter, was the Director of finance company First Capital Factors (FCF). Incorporated in 2009, FCF offered recourse factoring facilities for small and medium businesses where they would buy a company’s…
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New measures to end the problem of late payments to small businesses by large companies who abuse their position in the market have been unveiled by the Small Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst as she launches a call for evidence. Nearly a quarter of UK businesses report that late payments are a threat to their survival.…
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The Government’s Business Secretary Greg Clark’s has made an announcement on a package of measures to safeguard small firms from late payments. Reacting to the news Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) National Chairman Mike Cherry said “Late payment is the biggest challenge affecting small businesses and it is good to see the Government getting serious about…
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The vast majority (85%) of small firms that operate within European supply chains report being paid late, according to research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The FSB’s report, ‘Pay it Forward: Lessons and recommendations for Europe from the UK payment landscape’, reveals that despite positive steps, like the introduction of the Late Payment…
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Small businesses are calling on the Government to immediately publish the Call for Evidence into poor payment practices announced in this year’s Spring Statement six months ago. The call comes after the release of the latest Duty to Report data highlights that just over half (52%) of invoices were paid within 30 days. The data…
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The Government has announced new measures to boost funding for small businesses. The new laws aim to help small businesses against unfair contracts that stop them raising money from unpaid invoices were put to parliament yesterday. Small Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst put forward new laws to arm small businesses against unfair contracts that stop them raising…
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Introducing ‘Open Banking’ style measures to the energy market would make it easier for small businesses to switch providers and access cheaper tariffs, according to new proposals by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). Open Energy: Using data to create a smarter, cheaper and fairer energy market, commissioned by FSB and produced by Fingleton Associates,…
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The Government has announced new tools that will improve rescue opportunities for financially-distressed companies. The measures have been announced alongside new reforms that will help the Government tackle reckless directors and improve corporate governance to protect creditors, employees and other stakeholders in companies approaching insolvency. Proposed reforms will help strengthen the UK’s business environment which is a…
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Business Secretary Greg Clark has announced new powers to ban company directors. The new directive intends to target directors who have dissolved companies to avoid paying workers or pensions meaning that director could be disqualified or fined by authorities for the first time. The new measures also aim to give more time to rescue struggling…
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The Lending Standards Board (LSB) and the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs Business Debtline, have published a report that explores the impact of vulnerable circumstances on people who run small businesses. The report draws on insight gathered from LSB registered firms, as well as interviews with money advisers and clients of Business Debtline,…
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Freelancers and micro-business owners throughout are suffering from late payments from clients, new research has revealed. Large businesses continue to pay suppliers late as late invoices payments continue to drive more small businesses into financial distress. The new research from cloud accounting software company FreeAgent has revealed that UK-wide, just 52 per cent of invoices sent…
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The number of failures of UK companies has risen 30.0% to 4,827 in the second quarter of the year, compared to the same period a year ago, according to the latest figures from Creditsafe’s Watchdog Report. The quarterly Watchdog report, which analyses financial data across 12* UK business sectors, showed that high profile high street…
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