Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
A survey by invoice finance company Novuna Business Cash Flow has found that 34% of SMEs could cease trading if unable to secure funding. The figure contrasts sharply with the surprising revelation that 50% of SMEs have not sought any form of financial assistance since November 2023, despite the precarious position many find themselves in…
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The levels of ‘critical’ financial distress jumped dramatically in Q4 2023, up 25.9% on the prior quarter (Q3 2023: 37,772), leaving more than 47,000 businesses near collapse in the UK at the start of 2024 according to Begbies Traynor. This represents the second consecutive period where critical financial distress has grown by around a quarter.…
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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…
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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…
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Small businesses (SMEs) in the UK face costs £10,000 higher than they were during the same period last year according to new research by Liberis. The research also indicates that the cash buffer provided by various government-led Covid Business Interruption Loans is quickly depleting. Small businesses, which have relied on these loans to weather the…
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The difficulty small business owners are experiencing accessing funding without having to sign a personal guarantee has become clear according new analysis by Purbeck Insurance. The company say that October 2023 saw the largest number of small business owners ever recorded, taking insurance to mitigate the risk of signing a personal guarantee as a condition…
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Business confidence fell to 36% in September, a five point dip from the 18-month high (41%) recorded in August, as companies saw a decline in both economic optimism and trading prospects for the year ahead. While confidence has fallen it remains higher than the first three months of 2023 (20%). Firms’ trading prospects were down…
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The Bank of England has warned that rising interest rates are putting British companies at higher risk of corporate defaults, with the proportion of non-financial companies experiencing debt-servicing stress expected to hit 50% by the end of the year, up from 45% in 2022. The proportion rose to 70% for medium-sized companies, meaning corporate debt…
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New data from Begbies Traynor has revealed that there has been an increase in the number of North West firms faceing significant financial distress as inflation and interest rates bite. In Quarter 2 of 2023, the number of firms in the North West operating in ‘significant’ financial distress was 45,579 according to the research. This is…
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Confidence among finance chiefs at the UK’s biggest companies has seen its sharpest rise since 2020 and has improved significantly since the start of the year, according to Deloitte’s UK CFO Survey Q1 2023. A quarter of CFOs are now more optimistic about the financial prospects of their business than they were three months ago.…
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Small business lender iwoca’s latest SME Expert Index data – based on UK finance brokers who submit over 2,000 SME finance applications a month – has revealed a third of experts (32%) report increased business running costs as small businesses’ top concern. The Budget statement contained a number of measures that touched on these worries.…
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Small business concerns over economic uncertainty have sky-rocketed over the last 12 months by almost 50%, according to new research from Novuna Business Finance. The latest tracking data from its Business Barometer study revealed the percentage of small business owners worried about market volatility has risen from 27% in Q1 2022 to 40% this quarter…
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The number of companies in critical financial distress increased by a third (36%) in the last three months of 2022, according to figures from insolvency firm Begbies Traynor’s Red Flag Alert data. Businesses are struggling at an increasing rate as a combination of legacy Covid debt, inflation and greater pressure on consumers who are reining…
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