Late payment is a continual challenge for small businesses and a recent survey carried out by Zurich lays the blame at the door of the larger businesses. We share the findings of this latest research and what you can do to combat suffering from late payers.

With many people being uncertain about the current performance of the UK economy, one measure of confidence is the amount businesses are borrowing from the banks. I lift the lid on the latest Bank of England bank borrowing figures to see what businesses are up to.

To close this Bulletin, we share some recent experiences which highlight why you need to keep a close eye on your credit file. Lenders place a lot of emphasis on a clean report so it pays to keep your file in order.

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In the latest Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow looks the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement with the announcement of the extension of the Funding for Lending Scheme, and additional support for the Enterprise Capital Fund and Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme.

Late payment continues to feature on the agenda with news that the government is launching a consultation paper aimed at improving transparency amongst large businesses on their payment practices.

The recent SME Finance Monitor Report reveals interest insights in to the experience small business owners are having with their banks in terms of getting a finance approval. Rob looks at the numbers which shows why you shuld not assume your bank is going to say no if you approach them for business finance.

Agreeing the sharing of property security between different banks has always been a slow process but Rob discusses new arrangements put in place by the four High Street banks to speed up the process.

The Business Finance Tip this week comes from an interview Rob did with negotiation expert Derek Arden. In the interview Derek gives three tips on how to negotiate a better deal with your bank.

You can also listen to this week’s Bulletin as a podcast and you can download it to your PC or phone via our SoundCloud page. Click on the download button below or simply click to listen now.

In the latest Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow looks at the forthcoming launch of country-wide Venture Funding Hubs which will provide free advice to businesses wanting to know more about crowdfunding and how it works.

Turning to conventional sources of funding Rob looks at the latest bank lending figures which perhaps not surprisingly show a further fall in the total amount outstanding to UK businesses. However, there is a glimmer of some good news.

What banks are looking for in a finance request is the subject of a recent review, The State of Business Finance, carried out by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and Rob shares the one message this report has for banks.

Whether businesses actually want to borrow is a topic that is rarely looked at but as Rob discusses there is a large section of the UK business market that have no interest in borrowing. In a clip from a live seminar Rob looks at the key reasons why business owners say they are not interested in looking for finance.

If you prefer to listen to this week’s Bulletin you can download it as a podcast via our Soundcloud page. To listen now click below or click the download image to save to your PC or phone.

Latest figures from the Bank of England of lending to businesses show a continuation in the decline of total money lent to UK businesses. But small businesses appear to slightly better off than their larger corporate counterparts.

The figures to June 2014 reveal that the total amount of loans (including overdrafts) currently outstanding to businesses decreased by £3.4 billion in June, compared to the average monthly decrease of £0.9 billion over the previous six months. This results in a twelve-month fall of -3.8% in the stock of loans currently outstanding in banks.

However, a glimmer of hope for small businesses. Within these figures, loans (including overdrafts) outstanding to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increased by £0.2 billion, compared to the average monthly decrease of £0.5 billion over the previous six months. So unlike their larger corporate counterparts, UK small business owners are coming out on top.

That said the overall stock of loans advanced to small businesses has contracted by -2.8% over the twelve-months compared to June 2013 but this compares favourably to the overall fall of 3.8% for businesses of all sizes.

One important point to remember is that these figures relate to the amount outstanding at the end of the month i.e. existing loans, plus new money lent in the month, less money paid back during the month. When we delve further into the figures, particularly in relation to small businesses, the amount of new money being lent each month is showing a slight increase,

Monthly New Loans to Small Businesses

April £4.1b
May £4.3b
June £4.8b

Of course, these new loans are being netted off against monthly loan repayments and overdrafts paid down and here we see that small businesses are more or less paying back what they taking in new loans

Monthly Repayments by Small Businesses

April £4.5b
May £4.3b
June £4.7b

The net result looks like this:

Month   New Loans   Repayments   Net Amount

April               £4.1b               £4.5b                   -0.5b

May                 £4.3b              £4.3b                     0.0b

June                £4.8b              £4.7b                     0.1b

So are we seeing early signs of banks stepping back in to the SME market? If so, this growth is being offset by small businesses which would rather pay debt off than take on more; the appetite amongst small businesses to borrow may not as strong as many believe it to be.

Of course the other argument is that the ‘new loans’ figure should be a lot higher resulting in positive growth but it is the banks that don’t have the appetite to lend.

In reality it’s a bit of both!

Our latest Friday Business Finance Bulletin is out and this week Rob Warlow talks about the start of the new financial regulatory framework with the Financial Conduct Authority going live.

Rob also take a look at the consultation paper released by the government asking whether banks should be forced to refer clients to alternative sources of finance when the bank has said ‘no’.

Whether banks are up for lending to businesses is always the subject of debate and we look at the findings on bank lending appetite.

And in the Tip of the Week Rob share his ideas on what you can do to prepare for your annual bank visit and review meeting. Enjoy!