Opening this Business Finance Bulletin, after being the key source of finance for 12 months the final figures are out for the Bounce Back Loans and CBILS schemes. The figures reveal the extent of finance taken on by businesses and now it is payback time.

For start ups and smaller businesses getting on the ladder to build a credit score can be difficult, but a new service announced by Tide Bank will ease this problem. Tide’s Credit Builder is designed to help smaller businesses create a credit footprint thereby making future access to finance easier.

To close, we review the latest figures from the Finance and Leasing Association which reveals a significant return to usage of asset finance facilities such as leasing and HP. This is a good sign of the continuing return of confidence among businesses.

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Google, Spotify, Stitcher or itunes channel.

With the economy starting to get back on track, we open this Business Finance Bulletin with news from the Finance and Leasing Association of large increase in leasing and HP deals written in April. Although still well off the 2020 figures, encouragingly the gap is beginning to close as business investment activity increases.

Business confidence also continues to grow with a survey from the British Chambers of Commerce and Funding Circle revealing business activity levels and sentiments for the future. The survey findings highlight how resilient businesses have been.

To close, analysis from online accountants Mazuma uncovers how many businesses are concerned about their ability to pay back their Bounce Back Loan. What are your options if your cashflow is still tight?

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Google, Spotify, Stitcher or itunes channel.

When the Recovery Loan Scheme was launched in April, the number of accredited lenders on the panel was limited. With the panel lenders now expanding, in our latest Business Finance Bulletin we review the new lenders focused on specific regions of the country and how they are broadening the Scheme’s reach.

Business is tough enough as it is but identifying and dealing with fraud can be an unwarranted distraction. HSBC has announced the launch of an app designed to flag new scams and keep you up to date with trends in fraud and cyber crime. Could this app help you keep away from the fraudsters?

To close this Bulletin, we review the latest figures from the Finance and Leasing Association which reveal that HP and Leasing deals are on the increase. Following the easing of restrictions, it seems that businesses are again beginning to re-invest.

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Google, Spotify, Stitcher or itunes channel.

If you prefer to read what’s featured in this Bulletin, here is a transcript.

Regionally-focused lenders are starting to offer finance under the Recovery Loan Scheme. HSBC launches fraud awareness app; and the latest asset finance figures shows that growth is back. All of this in the latest Business Finance Bulletin.

Recovery Loan Scheme Lenders

Let’s start this Bulletin with an update on the Recovery Loan Scheme.

First of all, a quick reminder of what the Recovery Loan Scheme is. Well, it’s the replacement for CBILs and Bounce Back Loans. It’s designed to give funding to businesses who are now looking for growth money, or recovery money.

Those lenders who have applied to go onto the panel and been successfully accredited by the British Business Bank will now be able to offer finance to those businesses who were looking to expand the game. When the scheme was launched at the beginning of April I mentioned that the panel was quite tight, quite small, but I said, towards the end of May, early June, we would see the panel beginning to expand. And that has now happened.

The good thing to see is that we’re starting to see more regionally-focused lenders being accredited under the scheme. These lenders are very much focused on certain areas of the country, which would benefit smaller businesses because they will be a much more interested in supporting smaller businesses in those areas.

Who are these lenders Who’ve been accredited to the Scheme?

We’ve got ART Business Loans, covering the West Midlands; BCRS covering the West Midlands as well; Enterprise Answers covering Cumbria, North Lancashire and the Yorkshire Dales; and GC Business Finance covering Greater Manchester.

So you can see the North of England is well represented. If you’re in those areas, hunt out those lenders, because they may be able to support you.

We’ve also seen other additions to the panel. The bigger lenders announced in the last two weeks are Starling bank and also Funding Circle. Funding circle, had about 27% of the CBIlS loan market last year, so no doubt they’re going to be a big player in this.

It’s great to see that the panel is now expanding. If you want to know if you can be eligible and want to know a little bit more about the Recovery Loan Scheme, we’re happy to have a chat. Just drop us an email info at business loan services.co.uk and we’ll happily chat with you about all of the options available to you.

HSBC Fraud and Cyber Awareness App

In the current business environment it can be hard enough to make money as it is, but even tougher if you lose that money to fraudsters. According to the National Crime Agency, businesses are losing up to £140 billion per year to fraud. HSBC have come up with a great idea; they are launching a free app to download called Fraud and Cyber Awareness app.This app will help you keep on top of the new trends in scams.

First, a quick look at the top three scams that HSBC have identified.

First of all, purchase scams where non-existent products are bought. That’s costing businesses on average £3,000 a year. Invoice scams, that’s costing businesses, £24,000 a year. And impersonation scams; that’s costing on average £6,500 per business.

So we can see there’s a lot of money to be lost here.

This app is a great addition to your toolkit to keep you aware of what’s going on in the world. When you download the app, the app will give you notifications of the latest scams of all the new trends going on. So it means that you can get on with doing your business and rely on the app then to keep you up to date and what to look out for.

If you’re interested in downloading this app, all you have to do is go to the HSBC website

A great addition to your toolkit to make sure you keep the money in your bank account, not the fraudsters bank.

Asset Finance and Business Growth

Good news coming out, confirming that business activity, starting to get back on track again.

The latest figures have been released from the Finance and Leasing Association, which shows the deal volumes of asset finance facilities are starting to increase again.

The members of the Finance and Leasing Association offer products such as HP and leasing and deal volumes for March have been released.

There’s been a 15% increase in the amount of business done in March, 2021 compared to March 2020. In the first quarter of this year, compared to the first quarter of 2020, the volumes were only up by 1% though, but it’s good to see volumes increasing in March overall.

However, on a 12 month basis to March the volumes over the whole 12 months is down by 20%, but at least we’re starting to see some traction coming back into the marketplace.

Where’s the deal volume coming from? Commercial vehicles, that’s leading the pace with a 20% increase in the amount of deals written in March and also business finance equipment, That’s up 14%. So it’s good to see the businesses are starting to reinvest again. I am sure that doing April and May, those figures would show further increases.

If you want to know more about asset finance and whether it could work for you and your business to get in touch with us, just drop us an email info at business loans services.co.uk. It is good to see the UK economy getting back on track

Wrap Up

That’s it for another Bulletin. As ever, I hope you enjoyed watching it and if you did, please, don’t forget to give it a like, a share and subscribe to this channel. Thanks very much and I Look forward to the next time. In the meantime, have a successful and profitable week.

Opening our latest Bulletin, we look at how a survey from Bibby Financial Services confirms that business owners continue to feel increasingly confident about the future. What’s driving their confidence and what’s the one thing which could hold them back?

Tide, the mobile business account provider, has announce the forthcoming launch of Tide Invoice Assistant. We look at how the new service can save business owners time in handling their invoicing tasks.

To wrap up, we review the latest figures from the Finance and Leasing Association which, for the first time in nearly a year, report an increase in Asset Finance deals written. Is this a sign that businesses are beginning to reinvest?

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Google, Spotify, Stitcher or itunes channel.

If you prefer to read what’s in the latest Bulletin here is the transcript.

Business Finance Bulletin Transcript

Business confidence levels continue to rise. Tide bank launches new add-on service to reduce invoicing burdens and asset finance usage signals that maybe businesses are starting to reinvest.

All of this in the latest Business Finance Bulletin.

Business Confidence Continues to Rise

It’s great to be starting this Bulletin with more positive news. The positivity of course, is around the predicted bounce back in the UK economy, which the government and the Bank of England is now starting to signal. Also confidence levels amongst business owners is continuing to rise. This has been bourne out in the latest survey undertaken by Bibby Financial Services and IN the latest survey they’ve revealed that 75% of small business owners say they now have a more positive outlook for the rest of the year.

Also 74% of them say they anticipate that business would return to pre COVID levels by Christmas. So there’s quite a significant turnaround. What’s driving this?

In the survey, 59% of business owners said that they are looking forward to acquiring new customers. These are customers that they’ve never dealt with before. So if we’ve got business owners looking to acquire new clients, that’s a really good sign of positivity.

And also this positivity is backed up by hard cash. On average small business owners say that they’re looking to invest approximately £150,000 over the next 12 months. This has been driven primarily by the construction sector and also the transport sector and with these sectors, once they start spending, it really trickles down to the economy. Also a third of businesses say they’re going to be reinvesting in hiring new staff and also training their existing teams as well.

So all of this is a really good sign. Of course, there is one downside. The survey also revealed that small businesses are owed on average, approximately £116,376 in unpaid invoices. I’ve mentioned in recent Bulletins that we’ve got to be careful. Now, when you start growing watch that you don’t lose control of your cash flow; it’s cash that will really fuel your growth. So do keep an eye on your cash position, but overall, really good to see that both the economy is looking more positive and also a positive outlook from small business owners as well.

Tide Invoice Assistant

Do you spend a lot of time on administrative tasks, such as creating invoices, chasing up on invoices, managing expenses and spreadsheets? Well, according to Tide, the mobile only bank, businesses can spend about one and a half hours per day On average chasing overdue payments. They can also spend three to four hours per week or managing expenses, creating invoices and managing spreadsheets.

All of this of course is unproductive time; it takes you away from the important task of generating sales and managing customers.

If you’re already a Tide bank customer, you can as of now, create invoices on your app. Well, Tide have now launched a new add on service called Invoice Assistant. This will allow you to do a number of things in terms of managing your payments and invoices. Under Tide Invoice Assistant, you will now get automatic notification of when payments are made, so you can do your reconciliation.

It will automatically chase those customers who are overdue on payment. You can also set up direct debits via GoCardless, so when the invoice is due, the payment is automatically taken, so no more chasing. It’ll also provide some credit insurance as well to protect you against a nonpayment.

This add-on service costs just £10 per month plus VAT. If you find that you are spending an awful lot of time on admin, and you think you can manage your time in a better way, then this service will be ideal for you. If you want to know more about the Tide service, all you have to do is go along to their website, which is www.tide.co. and there you will find information on their business account and also this new service.

A great new service from Tide for those businesses who are time poor.

Asset Finance Growth

More good news. I’ve taken a look at the latest figures from the Finance and Leasing Association in terms of the amount of business their members have been doing with asset finance deals such as HP and the leasing.

The latest figures for the number of deals written in March has shown that there’s been an increase of 15% in activity in the month of March 2021 compared to March, 2020. Of course, March, 2020 was the first month of the lockdown. And so to see a 15% increase on that month is perhaps not unsurprising, but it’s the fact that it is an increase is a positive. It just shows that businesses have started reinvesting back in their business.

Overall, on a 12 month basis, year to year volumes is still down 20% because obviously activity was very low during the whole of the year, but it’s really encouraging to see at least in the month of March activity levels of building back up. Where’s the activity happening?

There was a 22% increase in the deals written in March in terms of commercial vehicles; there’s also a 14% increase in deal activity for business equipment. So it is very clear that businesses are starting to reinvest back into their businesses, which is obviously a good sign and just shows that business owners are ready to be back up and running and a lot more confident about the future.

If you are interested in asset finance and want to know more about HP and leasing opportunities, please just drop us a line info at business loan services . co.uk, and we will happily guide you through the various options.

So overall, really good news this year, that business owners are starting to spend and investing.

Close

That’s it for another Bulletin and as ever, I hope you enjoyed watching. If you did, please, don’t forget to give it a like a share and subscribe to this channel. So that’s it and I look forward to being with you again, next time and in the meantime, have a great successful week.

We open this Business Finance Bulletin with a review of the latest business insolvency figures. The most recent figures released by the Insolvency Service reveal that insolvencies are still declining. It is acknowledged that the figures will eventually increase so what can you do to protect yourself from customers not paying?

The latest figures from the Finance and Leasing Association show that use of Asset Finance in January continue its downward trend. Will the new Super Deduction investment tax break encourage businesses to invest?

Wrapping up, a look at a finding in the recent SME Finance Monitor report which highlights that some business owners have big plans and are still happy to take risks to achieve growth.

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Google, Spotify, Stitcher or itunes channel.

Opening this Business Finance Bulletin, fears of another Credit Crunch are mounting with the Bank of England calling on banks to play their part in meeting funding needs as business start gearing back up.

The latest figures from the Finance and Leasing Association reveal how demand for Asset Finance facilities has dramatically fallen over the last quarter. We look at the two factors which are driving this decline.

To close, a review of which areas of the UK have taken the most CBILS and Bounce Back Loans, and the latest figures on how many loans have been accessed by businesses in need of finance.

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Google, Spotify, Stitcher or itunes channel.

You can also read the Transcript of this Bulletin below.

Business Finance Bulletin for Week of 10^th August 2020

The Bank of England calls on banks to help avoid another credit crunch; economic woes are affecting demand for Asset Finance ; and the areas and sectors in the UK that are using CBILS and Bounce Bank loans; all of this in the latest Business Finance Bulletin.

Calls to Avoid Another Credit Crunch

In a previous bulletin I mentioned that I had concerns that we may be seeing another credit crunch by the tail end of this year, and certainly in 2021. Well, it seems that the Bank of England also have similar concerns.

One of the many committees the Bank of England has is the Financial Policy Committee. That committee has responsibility to monitor and oversee risks that the UK economy could face. The latest committee report has suggested they are concerned that banks may not be there to meet the cash requirements of UK businesses.

The committee estimates that there’s probably going to be about £200 billion demand for finance as businesses come out of lockdown and start growing again. One concern is that the banks may not be there to meet that demand. Now, the committee recognises that the banks have done extremely well in supporting businesses before and during lockdown, with an estimated £70 billion of net borrowing distributed; net borrowing, means new money lent out, less money’s paid back.

Of course there are alternative sources of finance. And one thing that popped up last week, IWOCA, an alternative cashflow lender has tapped into a £100 million of funding. It has gone to all of the UK banks and said, “If you’re not happy to support your clients, we further them over to us.” We can see that the alternative finance sector is already stepping into the gap that perhaps may be left by the banks. Interesting developments, so watch this space in order to make sure that you are ahead of the game when it comes to raising finance,

That’s a huge slug of money, primarily sourced via CBILs and Bounce Back Loans. However, with this £200 billion gap, the Bank of England wants to make sure that the banks are there to meet that demand. They are concerned that with insolvencies going to be on the increase, the banks are going to be faced with even bigger losses and therefore will contract and step back from the market in order to conserve their capital. Obviously the Bank of England doesn’t want that, so it’s making an early call to banks to say, “Hey banks, we’re watching you. We want you to be out there supporting UK businesses in 2021”.

Fall in Demand for Asset Finance

Let’s move on now to demand for finance and interesting figures out from the Finance and Leasing Association. Its members are responsible for issuing facilities such as HP and leasing to finance the purchase of capital and machinery.

The figures are for June 2020 and in the month of June, 2020, compared to the month of June, 2019, the total volumes of business written by that sector was down by 41%. That just shows how big the change in the market has been. If we look at the first six months of 2020 versus the first six months of 2019 there, the drop in the volume of business was down by 32%. If we look at the last quarter, the second quarter of 2020 versus the second quarter of 2019, the drop has been a massive 49% in terms of volumes of business written, yes, nearly 50% drop.

What’s driving this?

There are two things. First of all, it’s lack of investment appetite amongst businesses. Many of them are very cautious at the moment, sitting back and watching the market and really don’t want to commit to any capital expenditure at the moment. However, on the other side, we’ve also got many businesses which do want to invest, and instead of obtaining finance have said that they are going to use funds, released via Bounce Bank loans, and CBILs loans. Yes, they’re going to use cash instead of using finance facilities. So, two things at play here.

CBILS and Bounce Back Loan Updates

Closing this week’s Bulletin, our usual look at what’s going on in the CBILs and Bounce Back Loan market. Now, before I take my usual look at the number of facilities drawn, I want to review a report issued by the British Business Bank, which focuses on areas and also sectors that have accessed these government loan support schemes.

First of all, CBILs loans outside of London and the Southeast, where many of businesses are based, it’s businesses based in the East of England that have taken out the most CBILs loans. In terms of Bounce Back Loans, again, excluding London and the Southeast, it’s businesses based in the Northwest, who’ve taken out the largest number of Bounce Back loans. If we look across the UK in terms of where businesses are registered and who’s accessed loans, it’s quite evenly spread and the numbers kind of match each other. It’s good to see a good even spread of businesses accessing support.

In terms of what’s going on in the scheme, figures to the 2nd of August have been released and in total, the amount accessed via the scheme now stands at £50.7 billion. How does this break down? In terms of Bounce Back loans, the number of loans distributed stand at 1,135,575 with £34.3 billion issued, at an approval rate of 82%.

In terms of CBILs loans, the number of loans distributed stands at 58,595 with £13.1 billion issued with an approval rate of 49%, a slight dip on the kind of average of 50%. So again, many businesses still unable to access CBILs. As I’ve mentioned over time, with the CBILs loans coming out with very low acceptance rates, don’t forget, there are many alternative providers out there who can step into that funding gap and help you out. We can see lots of businesses still accessing these schemes, but don’t forget the CBILs ends at the end of September. So, if you’re thinking of applying, you need to get in quick,

Wrap Up

That’s it for another Bulletin and I hope you enjoyed watching. If you did, please, don’t forget to subscribe to this channel and also give it a like and, a share. That’s it, and I look forward to being with you again, next time. And in the meantime, have a great successful, profitable and safe week.

Opening this Bulletin, a review of the latest Small Business Index survey from the FSB which reveals that business finance is primarily being used to supplement cashflow as opposed to investment. Will this continue in 2020?

Firms looking to export for the first time can find it challenging identifying opportunities and associated risks. To solve this problem, the trade credit insurer Euler Hermes has launched a free-to-use tool for budding exporters.

To wrap up, news from the Asset Finance sector on how 2019 volumes outstripped traditional bank lending. What assets financed saw the most growth last year?

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher or itunes channel.

Whilst you may have ambitions to grow your business there are often barriers put in your way. What are the barriers which businesses face? That’s a question asked by Hitachi Capital in their latest Business Barometer survey series. Do you experience any of these barriers?

Becoming a more sustainable business is increasingly appearing on business radars. However, financing environmentally friendly projects can prevent change. We look at a new range of Green-focused finance packages launched by HSBC.

To close this Bulletin, our monthly look at activity levels in the asset finance sector from the Finance & Leasing Association. As a gauge of how confident businesses are in terms of investment spend, how are businesses feeling?

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher or itunes channel.

To open our latest Bulletin, we look at a survey from Cambridge and Counties Bank which reveals that unlike other sectors the Buy to Let industry remains confident about the future. Such is the feeling of optimism, the survey finds that many landlords are looking to expand their portfolios.

In terms of lending products being using to fund their businesses, online Invoice Discounting platform MarketInvoice finds that firms are moving away from the old traditional forms of finance. What forms of finance are businesses now accessing?

Occasionally, commercial property buyers can be surprised to learn that the property being purchase is subject to VAT. This can cause an unplanned hit to cashflow. We take a look at a new short-term VAT loan launched by Aldermore Bank to help ease the pain.

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher or itunes channel.

To open our latest Bulletin a look at a new survey from Menzies LLP which sheds light on how small businesses feel about their larger counterparts. Whilst there may be disadvantages to being small, the survey reveals several positives when it comes to competition.

We take our monthly look at activity levels in the Asset Finance sector which highlights how the volumes of business being transacted contrasts with that seen in the High Street banks.

To close, news from FreeAgent, the cloud accounting software provider, that it has signed up to Open Banking. We look at how this will prove beneficial to the nine banks within the Open Banking regime.

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher or itunes channel.