Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
UK small business profit growth reached 7.4% in the year to the first quarter of 2026, according to Sage’s latest SME Pulse report. The figure was up from 5.5% in the previous quarter and marks the strongest pace since Q1 2022. The difficulty is that stronger profits are still not always turning into available cash. Sage found that…
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One in five small businesses (20%) say the legacy of Brexit remains a barrier to business growth, according to research by Novuna Business Finance. Drawing on 12-years of tracking research, exploring small business growth outlook since 2015, the report ‘Brexit at 10′ draws together research on small business owner sentiment to Brexit, and their reactions…
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Latest data from Barclays has revealed diverging behaviour, with larger firms increasing longer-term lending and smaller firms relying more on shorter-term liquidity financing in the last quarter of 2025. While economic uncertainty remains the greatest challenge businesses are facing, confidence in the UK is resilient. Six in ten (58 per cent) back the home market…
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New research from Novuna Business Finance has revealed a five-year peak in the percentage of small business owners (84%) who are starting 2026 with plans to invest in new growth initiatives to make their enterprises stronger for the year ahead Following a challenging trading period in 2025, during which the percentage of small business owners…
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The percentage of small businesses working on new initiatives to power future growth has fallen to a four-year low (65%) and is significantly down on the start to the year (71% for Q1 2025), according to research from Novuna Business Finance. The tracking study of a representative sample of 1,000 small business owners also revealed…
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The overuse of personal guarantees in borrowing is hindering UK business growth, according to a survey by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). Research by the business group shows that six in ten (60%) limited company directors would borrow to grow their business, if they did not have to put hard-earned assets like savings or…
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Seven in ten small businesses (71%) are working on new initiatives to achieve business growth in the spring months, a rise on the previous 12-months according to new research from Novuna Business Finance. Following 2025 starting with a dip in the percentage of UK small businesses predicting growth, the latest findings suggest a solid resilience…
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The percentage of UK small business owners predicting growth (33%) has dipped to a nine-month low, according to the latest quarterly data from Novuna Business Finance. Whilst 45% see Q1 as a standstill period, there is a four-year high in the percentage of small businesses saying they will contract by the end of March (13%)…
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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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More small businesses applied for finance to support growth initiatives in Quarter 2 (Q2) 2024, with funding released at more than at any other time in the past three years according to the latest analysis by Purbeck Insurance Services. The data showed that 19% of small business owners securing personal guarantee-backed loans in Q2 were…
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Eight in ten (81%) project professionals working for SMEs in the UK financial services sector are expecting a rise in the number of appointed projects over the next three years, according to a survey by the Association for Project Management (APM), the chartered membership organisation for the project profession. In a positive sign for the…
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Only three in 10 small business owners (30%) predict any form of growth in the next three months – the lowest it has been since the Covid lockdown of January 2021 (26%) according to analysis by Novuna Business Finance. After small business confidence enjoyed a slight peak after Covid restrictions finally fell away by Q2…
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Small businesses are increasingly confident over an economic recovery and the positive impact this will have on their finances. A poll by small business lender Iwoca shows that almost half (47%) of small businesses expect their revenues to expand this year, marking a steep increase on the 26% who said the same at the start…
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