Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Demand for unsecured finance from SMEs is on the rise, according to iwoca’s quarterly SME Expert Index of UK brokers. The index, which covers a four-week period in May, found that over a third (38%) of brokers had submitted more lending applications for unsecured finance compared to the four weeks prior to that, suggesting that…
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Business advisory firm Quantuma has announced that it has promoted Frank Ofonagoro to Managing Director as the firm celebrates 45 per cent team growth in the last year. Ofonagoro joined Quantuma two years ago with more than 20 years’ experience – including senior managing positions at PwC and KPMG where he undertook financial and operational…
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The Bank of England’s latest Financial Stability Report which sets out the Financial Policy Committee’s (FPC) agenda has urged banks to remember the pressures consumers and businesses still face despite the rapid rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine. The FPC also said that while businesses and individuals have emerged largely stable from the pandemic, there are…
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New research by the TUC (produced by Landman Economics) has revealed that over a million children of key workers are currently living in poverty. The research, which used the government definition for key workers, found that in some regions more than a quarter of children in key worker households are living in poverty. Key worker…
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Around 10% of Scottish construction companies and sub-contractors could close by the end of 2022 following the expiration of Covid-19 supports, a construction sector restructuring specialist at Azets has warned. With The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 introducing a number of temporary measures which are due to end on 30th September 2021, to provide protection for…
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New National Fraud Database figures have revealed a surge of identity fraud with an 11% increase in the first six months of 2021 with patterns of fraudulent conduct similar to the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis are being repeated as the economy recovers from the pandemic. Cifas’ new Fraudscape report has indicated that the…
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One in three people (34%) think their parents will need paid-for care later in life according to research by Opinium. When asked whether their parents could afford it, 45% said they had enough in savings, and 30% said they would have to sell the house to pay care bills while almost one in ten (9%)…
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Consumer spending figures from Barclaycard show that activity in June was 11.1% higher than in the same month of 2019. Barclaycard said spending on fuel, hotels, resorts and accommodation all grew for the first time since the pandemic began. Spending at pubs and bars rose by 38.1% as customers opted to watch big sporting events,…
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New research from Hitachi Capital Business Finance has revealed that the percentage of small businesses predicting they will contract or scale down has hit its lowest level since the pandemic struck the UK and that there are now signs of bullish recovery from troubled sectors such as hospitality, leisure and retail for the summer months.…
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Businesses claimed back £11.5bn in overpaid corporation tax from HMRC last year, as Covid losses hit as the amount of overpaid corporation tax being repaid to businesses jumped 26% from £9.1 billion the year before according to analysis by UHY Hacker Young. The analysis says that businesses pay corporation tax based on forecast profits for…
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UK Finance has announced the appointment of Sophia Morrell as its new Director of UK Public Affairs. Morell is currently Political Adviser to Jonathan Reynolds MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and will join UK Finance on 31st August 2021. Morrell, who was also Political Adviser to Reynolds when he was Shadow…
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New research has revealed that business leaders overwhelmingly believe the state of UK infrastructure is restricting economic growth nationally, locally and within their own organisations. The survey by audit, tax and consulting firm RSM shows that nearly 70 per cent of the 400 UK middle market business leaders questioned believe the UK’s infrastructure* is hindering…
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Deloitte’s latest CFO survey found more than half of UK finance chiefs have seen a full recovery in demand – or expect to by the end of the year – while more than three quarters now expect rises in capital expenditure. The survey found that spending by UK businesses is set to surge in the…
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