Despite the last quarter of 2011 including the Christmas period, administrations in the UK retail sector increased by 27% compared with the previous three months, as 42 retailers went bust. According to research by Deloitte, last year saw an 11% overall rise in the number of retailers in England and Wales falling into administration, from [...]
Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has revealed that the Government’s credit easing scheme will underwrite banks loans of up to £40 billion to Britain’s smaller businesses. Speaking on BBC 1′s Andrew Marr Show, the Chancellor explained that underwriting the loans will mean that companies with turnover of less than £50 million should be able [...]
Lloyds Banking Group has committed to lending at least £12 billion to help Britain’s small and medium-sized businesses in 2012. In addition, the group’s SME Charter now includes a pledge to invest £20 million in community finance projects. The bank’s group director, commercial, John Maltby, comments: “Times have been tough for Britain’s small firms … [...]
Confidence is sinking fast among UK business leaders, according to a new report from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The eurozone crisis is blamed for a sharp fall in sentiment, together with the possibility of a second banking crisis. On the eve of its annual conference, the Confederation has published new research based on [...]
Sentiment has fallen sharply among the UK’s small and medium-sized manufacturers, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Of the 412 respondents to the CBI’s latest quarterly SME Trends Survey, 27% said domestic orders rose in the three months to October and 27% said that they fell. The resulting balance of 0% was the [...]
Trade credit insurer, Coface, has reported a deterioration in the average strength of companies in Europe and the US, amending some of its risk ratings accordingly. Unsurprisingly, the firm has also flagged up a decline in the credit contracted in Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland during the first half of 2011. But it goes on [...]
The evaporation of consumer confidence in the face of job losses, tighter household budgets and the eurozone crisis has resulted in a sharp rise in firms experiencing “critical” financial distress across many UK business sectors. Latest “Red Flag Alert” figures from insolvency specialist, Begbies Traynor, show: 1. The Travel and Tourism sector is coming under [...]
The UK’s smaller businesses face increasing cash flow problems, according to the latest Quarterly Economic Survey from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). The findings point towards a general deterioration in the economic situation, with manufacturers in particular fighting to keep afloat. In summary, for manufacturers: Domestic orders are on the decline. Export orders are [...]
Firms are more willing to lend to their customers as a way of making up for the shortage of bank lending to businesses, especially to SMEs. According to lease finance provider, Syscap, figures from the Finance & Leasing Association shows a 19% jump in vendor finance in the six months to the end of July, [...]
Britain’s small businesses look set to benefit from new inflows of funding, as announced today at the Conservative Party Conference by Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. HM Treasury has apparently been set to work on ways to inject money directly into parts of the economy by means of “credit easing”, a form of “monetary [...]
Concerns over the global economy are being tackled by central banks which have agreed co-ordinated action to increase lending. The Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of Japan, and the Federal Reserve will conduct three US dollar tenders, each at a term of approximately three months, covering the [...]
Lending under the Government’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme has plummeted over the last year, says IT finance provider, Syscap. Loan values covered by the scheme declined to £433 million in the 12 months to the end of June 2011, down from £742 million during the previous twelve month period. The slide appears to be [...]
The UK’s smaller businesses could face impossible funding hurdles if proposed reforms from the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) come into force. The alarm is being raised by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), whose director general, John Cridland, told the BBC that the ICB’s proposed regulatory reforms will be badly timed. According to Mr [...]
Lending conditions have begun to stabilise for Britain’s manufacturers, according to a survey released today by EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation. However, the trade body is less than satisfied as companies are still facing increased costs, suggesting that firms are paying a price for improvements in lending flow. Fees are still relatively high and the balance [...]
Confidence among the UK’s banking, finance and insurance firms slipped during the three months to the end of June, according to the latest ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor. The decline helped push confidence among British companies to its lowest level since the third quarter of 2009, when the economy was still in recession. Overall, [...]
The UK’s small and medium-sized manufacturers are bracing themselves for a slowdown over the coming quarter, according to new research from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Of the 411 respondents to the CBI’s latest quarterly SME Trends Survey, 28% said they are less optimistic than three months ago, the first notable decline in sentiment [...]
