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A Crisis in Late Payments to SMEs

Are you being held back by cash flow problems caused by late payment of invoices? You’re not alone. A recent report by Time Finance found that SMEs are owed an average of about a quarter of a million pounds in outstanding invoices. At the same time, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has reported that 52% of small businesses have experienced late payments. Are you among these? And, if so, what can you do about
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Record Numbers of IVAs — What Does This Mean for Creditors?

The Insolvency Service has released figures which show that nearly 88,000 Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) were registered in England and Wales in the course of 2022. This represents the highest figure since 1990, when records began. So what are IVAs, why have they increased so much, and what might it mean for you as a creditor? What Is an IVA? Introduced in 1986, an IVA is a formal alternative to bankruptcy
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The Recession’s Nowhere Near Over — How Will That Affect You?

During 2022, a combination of soaring prices (especially energy prices) and income lagging behind pushed the economy into recession. The bad news is that, according to forecasts by KPMG, the recession is likely to last for the rest of 2023, with output falling by 1.9%. So why are things so bad, and what’s it likely to mean for you and your business? What’s Causing the Recession? The main driving force of the recessio
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Growing Calls for More Flexibility on Debt Repayment

It’s hardly surprising that the current cost of living crisis has seen a sharp rise in people with problem debts. Recent figures suggest that one in three households have missed paying a bill in the past year, and this looks set to rise. In this atmosphere, calls have been growing for banks and credit lenders to take a more flexible and compassionate approach to repayment by vulnerable debtors. The Problem With Lende
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Landlords — Your Obligations in Maintaining Your Properties

Whether you’re a landlord with a single property or a property manager with a large portfolio, it’s vital to keep your properties in good condition. Besides it being in your own interest to prevent them from diminishing in value, failing to do so could be considered as a breach of your obligations to your tenants. Here are a few things to bear in mind about maintaining your properties. Preparation Is Essential When s
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Is Your Supply Chain Still Working?

UK businesses are facing a wide range of challenges at the moment, but one of the leading issues is disruption to supply chains. Whether this is caused by the ongoing effects of the Covid 19 pandemic, the problems arising from Brexit or the war in Ukraine, either you or one of your suppliers might be running into serious difficulties. So how can you balance the need to nurture your business partners with the importan
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Bounce-Back Loans — Can’t Pay or Won’t Pay

With many businesses devastated by the Covid pandemic, government measures like furlough and bounce-back loans were often lifesavers. However, when the time came to start paying back, not everyone repaying as easy as borrowing. Sometimes this was due to ongoing challenges, but some cases were self-inflicted. Bounce-Back Loan Fraud — Convictions Begin Because of the urgency of the situation, bounce-back loans were oft
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Should You Act as a Personal Guarantor for a Business Loan?

Have you ever been asked to act as a personal guarantor on a business loan? Maybe you’ve been asked by a business owner you’re on good terms with, or maybe you’ve considered taking on the role for a limited company you’re a director of. Is it a good idea to accept the request — and what could the consequences be? What Is a Personal Guarantee? There are various ways of offering security to a lender for a business loan
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Is Your Business at Risk from Global Supply Chain Problems

There plenty of challenges at the moment to SMEs, but one the major dangers comes from the global problems in the supply chain. This is largely down to the war in Ukraine and the resulting sanctions against Russia, but it isn’t a simple issue. How might this affect your business? Challenges to the Global Supply Chain The supply chain into the UK has suffered a series of blows over the past couple of years. The afterm
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Commercial Rent Arrears — Six Months’ Moratorium

During the Covid lockdown, many businesses unable to trade or use their premises fell into arrears with their commercial rent. Although businesses are generally up and running again, many have found difficulties in catching up with these arrears. This has obviously also impacted on landlords’ finances, but the government’s Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022, which came into force on 24th March, has se
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