Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Online businesses in the North West are securing much larger advances than their southern counterparts, reflecting the region’s growing digital economy and the impact of regional investment in tech hubs. The median advance approved for online businesses in the North West of the country has now increased by 483% year-on-year, to an amount of £175,000…
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Lending to small businesses by high street banks hit the highest level since 2022, a sixth consecutive quarterly rise in the opening three months of 2025. UK Finance data showed that lenders issued £4.6 billion worth of loans in Quarter 1 (Q1), with this a 14% year-on-year jump. This represents a 14 per cent increase…
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New research by ThinCats has found that mid-sized companies that borrow are sixteen times more likely to achieve growth than face insolvency. The data found that companies that borrowed were more likely to achieve growth than non-borrowers, with the level of borrowing proportional to growth potential. Nearly 40% of mid-market SMEs have achieved revenue growth…
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Despite an uncertain economy, applications for personal guarantee-backed business loans rose by 9% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025. This is according to the Q1 2025 Personal Guarantee Insurance (PGI) Monitor from Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance, the UK’s only provider of PGI to SMEs. The 9% rise suggests that the appetite for finance remains…
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Research by Allica Bank has advised that the SME lending market needs a full reboot, with the UK having the lowest business investment rate in the G7. The report highlights how small businesses invest at only a third of the level of large corporate businesses, with a clear link between low levels of SME finance,…
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Gross lending to SMEs rose by 13 per cent year-on-year to just over £16 billion in 2024 according to latest UK Finance data. The research showed that in each quarter of last year gross lending was up compared to the same quarter in the previous year. However, lending remains significantly below levels reported in the…
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The Department for Business and Trade is launching a review into SME lending, due to the increase in the price of debt in recent years. Commenting on the Government’s publication of a call for evidence on SME access to finance, Emma Lovell, Lending Standards Board (LSB) Chief Executive, said “SMEs are the backbone of the…
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A new EY ITEM Club forecast has predicted bank-to-business lending growth to increase from 2.9% in 2024 to 4.5% in 2025 – the highest rate since 2020 – and 5.6% in 2026 as borrowing rates continue to fall Bank lending to UK businesses grew by 2.9% in 2024, as falling interest rates boosted market confidence…
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One in three of these businesses anticipate needing financial support as they head into the new year according to the latest research from accounting and advisory firm, BDO. BDO’s bi-monthly survey of 500 mid-sized business leaders, which looks at the challenges and opportunities facing UK companies with a turnover between £10m-£300m, reveals over a quarter (29%)…
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New research by EY ITEM Club has found that total bank lending grew by 2.6% this year (up from – 2.2% in 2023), 3.7% in 2025 and 4.3% in 2026. The research forecasts that business lending is set. to grow 3.1% this year (up from – 2.1% in 2023), 5.6% in 2025 and 6.2% in…
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Nearly a third of commercial finance brokers say they frequently encounter difficulties in securing funding for their clients due to changes in funder policies, latest survey data from Asset Advantage can reveal. Just over 27% of brokers say they encounter challenges frequently or very frequently, more than half (56.8%) face difficulties on occasion. The biggest…
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A survey by Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance has found that 60% of small business owners have felt in the dark about the risks and 25% have backed out of a loan because it had a personal guarantee attached. Todd Davison, MD of Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance said “We welcome the strengthening provisions on personal guarantees by the Lending…
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Latest UK Finance data shows that overall gross lending was broadly stable at around £4 billion in Q2 2024. This is very similar to gross lending in Q1 2024, but again higher than a year previously when it was £3.6 billion. Growth in lending over the first half of this year varied across sectors and…
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