Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Business insolvencies in the UK could increase by 10% this year, according to research by Allianz. The insurer’s global insolvency outlook revealed that 15% of small and medium-sized businesses in the UK are at risk of going bust, the highest proportion in Europe. This is compared to 14% in France, 9% in Italy, and 7%…
Read more
Nova Credit, the cross-border and alternative credit analytics company, has announced a strategic collaboration with Creditinfo, a global service provider for credit information and risk management solutions, to help Ukrainians gain access to the necessary financial services needed to effectively rebuild their lives abroad. The partnership is powered by Nova Credit’s Credit Passport®, the only…
Read more
Having been gradually ticking up since its recent nadir of -30 in June 2023, the Institute of Directors’ (IoD) Economic Confidence Index, which measures business leader optimism in prospects for the UK economy, fell back to -28 in December from -21 in November. However, despite the decline in the headline indicator, business leaders’ confidence in…
Read more
Nearly 4,500 retailers are in critical financial distress as lacklustre Christmas sales performances, combined with persistent inflation and interest rates at levels not seen in decades, pile on the pressure according to a report by insolvency firm Begbies Traynor. Critical financial distress rose considerably across the whole retail sector, with Food & Drug Retailers up…
Read more
The private sector activity fell slightly in the three months to December (weighted balance of -8%, from -11% in the three months to November), according to the CBI’s latest Growth Indicator. The latest decline extends a stretch of one-and-a-half years without growth, a trend which firms expect to continue in the new year (-6%). Services…
Read more
British businesses became more downbeat about the economic outlook in December, with the biggest monthly decline in confidence in more than a year, according to the Lloyds Bank Business Barometer. The survey fell by seven points to 35% from November’s 21-month high of 42%, marking the largest monthly fall since August 2022. Firms’ hiring intentions…
Read more
The UK economy has performed better than expected this year, but the outlook remains weak and vulnerable to shocks. UK GDP is expected to continue to grow at a modest pace of 0.5% this year and next, and only pick up to 1.0% in 2025, according to the latest KPMG Global Economic Outlook. Despite the…
Read more
UK inflation fell to 3.9% from 4.6% in October, the decline is abigger dip than expected, and inflation is now the lowest it’s been in more than two years according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data. ONS Chief Economist Grant Fitzner said “Inflation eased again to its lowest annual rate for over two…
Read more
Research by Lloyds Bank shows that business confidence has climbed back to levels not seen since before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent energy crisis. The rise in business confidence is significantly above the long-term average of 28%, and has been driven by increased trading prospects for the year ahead, greater optimism in the…
Read more
UK inflation fell to the lowest rate in two years last month, falling to 4.6% in the year to October from 6.7% in September. Economists have said the main reason inflation has fallen from its peak of 11.1 per cent in October 2022 is due to a reduction in the energy price cap, which limits…
Read more
Latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data has shown that the economy failed to grow in Quarter 3 (Q2). While GDP was up 0.2% in September, growth for August was revised down to 0.1% from 0.2%. With GDP flatlining in Q3, it means the UK has avoided a recession in 2023, with this defined as…
Read more
Allianz Trade has predicted that business insolvencies in the UK are set to increase in next few years. The report anticipates that business insolvencies in the UK will hover around 30% above pre-pandemic levels by 2025, with notable peaks expected in 2024 (29,850 cases i.e. +5%) and 2025 (28,400 cases i.e. -5%). The rise is…
Read more
The UK should still avoid a recession, although GDP growth is set to remain sluggish for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024 amid headwinds from high interest rates and a weaker-than-anticipated labour market, according to the EY ITEM Club’s new Autumn Forecast. Following a better-than-expected start to the year, GDP growth expectations for 2023 have…
Read more