Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Business confidence rose 11 points to 55% in March, driven mainly by smaller firms, according to the latest Lloyds Business Barometer. The survey, conducted from March 2nd-16th, showed that over 90% of responses came in the first week, before the potential impact of Middle Eastern conflict affected smaller businesses. Larger firms exhibited less optimism, reflecting…
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The Bank of England has announced that it has held interest rates at 3.75% with the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voting unanimously to keep interest rates on hold. The Bank says that a “shock to the economy” sparked by the war in the Middle East could push inflation as high as 3.5% later this yeart,…
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Barclays has published new policy recommendations urging the UK government to take further action to support the nation’s exporters, particularly smaller businesses. The analysis draws on proprietary data covering current and potential future exporters, alongside the bank’s own in‑house expertise and long-standing experience supporting UK firms trading internationally. This work comes at a time when…
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New global payment data analysis from Sidetrade is showing that late payments now account for 37% of the payment cycle. The data shows that businesses took an average of 51 days to get paid in 2025, composed of 32 days of contractual payment terms and 19 days of payment delay.The data indicates that short commercial…
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The gap between the UK’s wealthiest and poorest consumers is widening, according to a survey of 20,000 European and 1000 UK consumers by credit management group Intrum. The European Consumer Payment Report is an annual survey across 20 countries found only 48 per cent of the UK’s low-income consumers are confident they can pay all of their…
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A third (32%) of UK SMEs that do not currently trade internationally plan to do so this year, according to research from Shawbrook. While 38% of SMEs are already trading outside of the UK, a further third now plan to begin doing so within the next year. Only 28% do not currently trade internationally nor…
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The UK government may be celebrating favourable tariffs with the USA and new trade deals with countries outside the EU, but the vast majority of UK small businesses are now focused on the domestic British market to secure growth over the next 12-months, according to new research from Novuna Business Finance. The nationally representative survey…
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Extreme currency fluctuations have caused SMEs to face substantial losses and are compelling businesses to change their FX strategy, according to data from independent SME funder, Bibby Financial Services (BFS). 54 per cent of SMEs surveyed say they’ve been stung by volatile exchange rates in the past year, losing over £53,000 on average as a result.…
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New analysis from FICO has revealed a worrying trend of rising card fraud levels and losses across the continent. The data from Euromonitor International on 18 countries shows that Card Not Present (CNP) fraud dominates card fraud losses and has increased across most countries. E-commerce fraud, e-wallet, social engineering and QR code fraud or “quishing”…
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Four in ten (39%) senior financial professionals working in the UK say the country’s dominance in financial services has weakened in recent years, according to research by CRIF. As a result, nearly half (44%) say they no longer consider the country a global leader in financial services, with the top reasons behind this including Brexit’s…
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UK small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are being significantly impacted by the upending of the global trading environment, propelled by the US administration’s tariff policies, according to new research from independent funder Bibby Financial Services (BFS). BFS’s Trading Places report, which surveyed over 500 UK SMEs that trade overseas, found over half (55%) see…
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The UK could see higher than expected growth due to trade deals agreed with the US and the European Union, with KPMG predicting that growth could hit 1.2% in 2025 as trade agreements lower uncertainty. The UK economic outlook could brighten over the next two years as the economy stands to benefit from easing trade…
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UK-listed companies issued 62 profit warnings during Q1 2025, an 11% year-on-year fall, however the proportion of listed firms to warn in the last 12 months remains high (18%). EY-Parthenon’s latest Profit Warnings report found that the leading factor behind profit warnings in Q1 was contract and order cancellations or delays, cited in 40% of…
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