It has taken a while since the formation of the Small Business Commissioner office for them to name and shame a late payment offender, but the Commissioner has finally called out a well-known name. With the Commissioner’s focus on tackling late payment, will naming and shaming have an impact on other offenders?

Administrative tasks are not the favoured part of running a business. We look at the announcement from mobile-only bank Starling of its link up with cloud-based accounting package provider FreeAgent, which will reduce admin time and help with speedy production of Management Accounts.

To wrap up, our monthly look at activity in the Asset Finance sector with a mixed bag of results reflecting the degree of uncertainty which many business owners are currently feeling.

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We open our latest Bulletin with the announcement from Lloyds as to how much lending it will be committing to UK businesses in 2019. The funding pot will be available to all businesses but with an emphasis on those businesses looking to export for the first time.

The Finance and Leasing Association has released up to date figures on the volume of business written by its members. The level of asset finance transactions is always a good indicator of how business owners are feeling, and the recent figures are a mix of good and bad news.

To close, we look at the call from the FSB for a review of the Prompt Payment Code. This voluntary code is designed to curb late payment, but 12 months on from the Carillion collapse the FSB wants to see it strengthened.

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

As we get closer to the Brexit deadline, thoughts are turning to potential support businesses will need in a worse-case scenario. To open our latest Bulletin, we have news that RBS has set aside funds to provide financial support to businesses trading in Europe who may find themselves in a tight financial spot.

As highlighted in recent Bulletins, the Asset Finance sector continues to grow in terms of facilities to allow businesses to acquire assets. To continue the flow of available funds, we look at the announcement from the British Business Bank that it has allocated funds to asset finance provider Henry Howard Finance for on-lending to small businesses.

To close, our monthly review of bank lending to businesses. The latest figures from UK Finance reveal that bank lending continues to slip with limited demand for finance from businesses. Business owners seem to be adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach when it comes to making investment decisions.

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

Whilst larger housebuilding firms tend to have easier access to finance, smaller housebuilders have greater challenges in getting the finance they need to develop sites. To open this Bulletin, news of a guide released by UK Finance and the Federation of Master Builders designed to help SME housebuilders source finance.

Where are businesses turning to when they apply for finance? We continue our look at findings from the latest SME Finance Monitor Report and reveal where businesses in need of finance are turning to. Despite strained relationships between banks and small businesses, the High Street banks remain the first port of call.

As an alternative source of finance, the Asset Finance sector continues to be an important avenue of funding for growing businesses. The latest figures from the Finance and Leasing Association show a busy August in terms of volume of business written. How does it look over 12 months though?

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

When searching for finance many business owners don’t know where to start looking. To help bridge the information gap the British Business Bank has launched a finance knowledge website. We open our Bulletin by looking at how the portal can help guide business owners to the right source of finance.

Iwoca has been known as a short-term loan provider but they have now announced a new 5 year loan product designed to provide medium term finance to growing businesses. Could you make use of a cash injection?

In recent Bulletins we have mentioned that the first few months of this year saw a decline in the use of Asset Finance. To close this episode, we review the latest statistics from the Finance and Leasing Association which reveal an increase in Asset Finance deals to purchase business machinery, equipment and vehicles.

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

Following the announcement in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement that the government is looking at ways of tackling late payment, it has announced the launch of a consultation paper. The government is looking for input on its plans to address late payment amongst businesses awarded government contracts. Do you have any thoughts?

Where it can’t assist, to continue signposting businesses to alternative lenders, Nat West has announced MarketInvoice as the ninth addition to its Capital Connections panel. Being an online invoice discounter, MarketInvoice adds a new service to Nat West’s expanding panel.

Figures from UK Finance, the finance industry’s trade body, reveal that 2017 was a record year for businesses accessing Asset-Based lending. Looking closer at the figures, smaller businesses though really took advantage of this growing source of alternative finance. But is that the case in the first quarter of 2018?

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

To start our latest Business Finance Bulletin, news from Revolut Bank, an internet and mobile-only bank which we have not featured before. Revolut has announced forthcoming enhancements to its service offering which will provide wider benefits to its 16,000 business customers.

The British Business Bank, the government’s home for its finance programmes, has supported two more challenger lenders in their aim to broaden access to finance. Aldermore and 1pm will be using the finance schemes to widen the reach of their asset finance products.

Business confidence appears to be strengthening. That’s the message coming out from two surveys undertaken by the FSB and Lloyds Bank. However, there are still a number of factors holding businesses back when it comes to pursuing growth.

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

Despite many reasons for small businesses to feel uncertain about prospects, we open this Bulletin with a review of the latest Business Barometer Report from Hitachi Capital which reveals that business confidence has remained steady over the last 12 months.

One source of finance which continues to see growth is Asset Finance. Figures released by the Finance and Leasing Association shows strong growth in the use of Asset Finance in 2017 with certain types of asset purchases leading the way.

To close the Bulletin, we share news that Marketinvoice, the online invoice discounter, has announced a tie-up with trade credit insurance provider Euler Hermes. The partnership will benefit those Marketinvoice clients who wish to protect themselves against non-payment of discounted invoices.

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

Some businesses when looking for finance can get overwhelmed by the choices and process of applying for funding. If you are an FSB member, then help is at hand with the launch of the FSB Funding Platform which is designed to help its members efficiently search for finance.

Despite the prevailing uncertainty about consumer demand and the state of the economy, a report from R3, the business turnaround and insolvency specialists, reveals that the number of zombie businesses is in decline. What are zombie businesses and why are their numbers falling?

Asset Finance as a way of funding the purchase of equipment has seen a boom over recent years. However, the latest statistics from the Finance and Leasing Association show that use of Asset Finance is leveling off. We look at why that is.

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

The invoice finance and asset-based lending sector is providing an increasing share of finance to UK businesses according to latest data released by UK Finance, the trade body for the finance industry.

The amount of money raised via invoice finance (a method of unlocking cash tied up in invoices) and other asset-based finance such as leasing and HP, is up 13% year-on-year. The total amount outstanding sits at just over £22 billion, which is the highest advances figure ever.

There are just over 40,000 UK business now using this form of finance, although this number has remained relatively static.

With the government focused on driving up UK exports, the exporting picture is particularly strong, with sales from clients through export invoice discounting facilities up 33% year-to-date, and export factoring up 11%.

UK Finance wants to see the government do more to encourage smaller businesses access funding via these sources. They are calling on the government to bring forward long-awaited legislation to give more smaller firms access to much-needed funding.

Many small businesses find themselves trapped by o-called ‘ban on assignment’ clauses, which are sometimes imposed by larger businesses on their smaller suppliers. This can restrict the finance options available to those supplier businesses. To address this, the UK Government is expected to bring forward revised Business Contract Terms (Assignment of Receivables) Regulations in the New Year.