Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Most businesses are optimistic about their prospects for 2025, with new surveys indicating plans for growth despite lingering economic challenges. According to Lloyds Bank’s monthly survey of 1,200 businesses revealed that about 70% expect their turnover to rise in the coming year, an increase from 62% recorded in December 2023. Additionally, 73% of respondents expressed…
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Business confidence in the UK has fell to its lowest level at the end of 2024, dropping two points to 39%, according to the latest Lloyds Business Barometer. Despite the fall, 55% of businesses expressed optimism about the broader economy, with nearly two-thirds anticipating stronger output. However, 19% of respondents plan to reduce their workforce,…
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New research from R3 shows that in November, the number of overdue invoices in Northern Ireland fell to a 2024 low. The restructuring body’s analysis of data provided by Creditsafe shows that businesses in Northern Ireland had 62,544 unpaid invoices on their books last month – the lowest monthly total in 2024. Overdue invoices in…
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Latest ONS data has shown that year-on-year inflation rose to 2.6% in November, up from 2.3% in October, rising for the second month in a row. Year-on-year core Inflation (excluding food and energy) rose to 3.5% in November, up from 3.3% in October whilst , month-on-month inflation rose by 0.1% in October, down from 0.6%…
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The National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) is calling for ‘real consequences’ to help address the ‘endemic culture’ of late payment within the UK construction industry. The NFRC’s latest State of the Roofing Industry report has revealed that 45% of respondents experienced delays getting paid in quarter three of 2024. The proportion of those not…
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New research from SME lender ThinCats shows significant confidence in growth but an even split for those believing the Government is creating the right environment. The research which was conducted after the Chancellor’s Budget among more than 2000 UK SMEs shows that 81% of businesses are confident that their business would grow next year. Confidence…
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Gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 0.1% month on month in October for the second consecutive time and below expectations of 0.1% growth. GDP is estimated to have fallen largely because of a decline in production output; this follows a fall of 0.1% in September 2024. Real GDP is estimated to have grown by 0.1%…
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In the aftermath of the new Labour Government’s first Budget, businesses are looking to how best mitigate the impact of the announced rise in employee National Insurance (NI) with half of UK SMEs (50%) expecting the policy to hinder business growth, with 31% saying it will hinder their own business according to new research from…
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UK business confidence has reached its lowest point in nearly two years, according to the latest Business Trends Report by BDO. The BDO optimism index fell by 5.81 points to 93.49 in November, marking the steepest month-on-month decline since 2021. Firms are grappling with rising costs, reduced customer confidence, and falling orders, leading to a…
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More than eight in ten (81%) UK small businesses are prioritising new initiatives to boost their overall growth prospects for 2025. Increasing new business sales (43%) and reducing fixed costs (24%) are priority areas business owners want to focus on – but there’s also evidence the recent changes to employers’ National Insurance could significantly impact…
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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) expects the UK economy to grow at a slower pace this year than it had previously forecast. However, it has upgraded its growth forecast for next year. The think-tank expects 0.9% growth this year, down from 1.1%, while 2025 is forecast to see growth of 1.7%, up…
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Economic uncertainty is on the rise for the UK’s 5.6 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) following the Autumn Budget, according to iwoca’s Q3 2024 SME Expert Index. The percentage of brokers reporting pessimism among their SME clients about the future has more than doubled, rising from 15% last quarter to 34%. Meanwhile, only one…
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The latest Lloyds Business Barometer found that confidence fell in November, with the index dipping three points to 41%. Considerably above the long-term average of 29%, the change followed a period of sustained positivity from businesses, as confidence reached the highest level reported since 2015 during May, July and August this year. The Business Barometer,…
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