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You can hardly have missed the major companies failing left, right and centre in recent months. Carillion, Palmer and Harvey, Maplin, Toys R Us — the list goes on. House of Fraser is in serious trouble, and that may well have gone further by the time you’re reading this. The problem goes all the way through business, from giants to SMEs. Corporate failures rose by 2.5% last year, and with two or three years of

The law is notoriously pernickety about detail, and if you’re suing a company for a debt (or for any other reason), it’s vital to get everything exactly right. And the potential pitfalls include the name of the company. What Kind of Mistakes Are Made? Company names, especially if the business is registered  as a limited company, are very precise, and giving an incorrect or imprecise name could threaten yo

A happy Easter and/or Passover to you — whichever you celebrate. We’re now at the start of the new tax year, and I hope you’ve made a resolution to start it by minimising both the debt you owe and the debt you’re owed. Strong, effective systems can help with both, but if you have difficulties recovering money that’s owed to you, you’re very welcome to get in touch with SJ Collections. Ne

One the great successes that’s bucked the trend of recession and austerity over the past decade has been the small business sector. Apart from a brief dip after the Brexit vote, the FSB’s (Federation of Small Businesses) confidence has been positive for the last five years. All that seems to be changing, though. The Small Business Boom Since the crash of 2008, things haven’t been easy for business, or for their emplo

The sudden and dramatic collapse of Carillion has thrown into stark relief the whole system of outsourcing public contracts to a few large companies. Even before Carillion’s collapse, though, many experts were nervous that planning for crucial reform of the court system appears to be largely in the hands of these same giant contractors. Digitising the Courts The court system in England and Wales has never been so ove

Tax evasion and avoidance are big news these days, and most of us associate them with the multinational corporations and super-rich celebrities we read about in the news. But HMRC recently revealed who the biggest culprits are — SMEs. SME Tax Evasion HMRC estimates that they’re owed a total of £5.2bn in evaded tax payments, and of course those are only the debts they know about. Tax evasion, unlike tax avoidance, is

Many people who aren’t involved in the process of recovering debts, as I am, may be confused about the various ways of approaching it. In particular, debt collection and enforcement — what are they, and how do they relate to one another Debt Collection A debt collection agency (DCA) is used when direct attempts to get payment aren’t working. Some will buy the debt from you, often at a knock-down price, and then recov

Are you a supplier of services or goods, or perhaps a landlord? If so, the chances are you’re being used as an unofficial bank. Maybe you think that’s not you. Well, maybe it’s not, if everyone pays you on time as soon as the payments are due, but then you’re in a very small minority. Late Payments Statistics show that most SMEs are being paid as and when it suits their debtors, and that their aged debts have increas

Court proceedings to recover money you’re owed are not only slow but also expensive. The fee — from £455 to ££10,000, depending on the size of the debt — has to be paid upfront, which can be difficult if the debt has left you short. And this doesn’t mean the process goes any quicker. First you have to obtain a court judgement that you’re entitled to the money. Then, if the debtor still doesn’t pay up, you have to pur

  Personal debt fell sharply in the wake of 2008’s financial crisis, but figures from 2016 show it’s growing again fast. Mortgage borrowing and unsecured loans have risen, with the average household owing a record figure of £12,887 even without mortgages. Record Household Debt Both the British Bankers’ Association and the TUC have highlighted sharp rises in personal debt in the closing months of 2016, with the B