Are you soon facing your first Bounce Back Loan repayment? Many businesses have just paid their first repayment or soon will and are concerned with cashflow still tight. Opening our latest Bulletin, we look at repayment options under the Pay as You Grow Scheme designed to ease your cashflow burden.

A government Bill has been proposed to close a loophole in the insolvency process where Directors can dissolve their company with the aim of walking away from their Bounce Back and CBILS loan liabilities. The Bill, if passed, could see Directors facing sanctions if found guilty of fraudulently dissolving businesses.

To close, a new report highlights that after losing a share of the business lending market, High St banks are again becoming dominant lenders over the alternative lenders and Challenger banks. Is that a good thing?

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.

Here also is the transcript of this latest Bulletin…

Bounce Back Loan repayment options; focus on directors who dissolve companies to avoid repaying government loan schemes; and return of the dominance of big banks in lending.

All of this in the latest Business Finance Bulletin.

Bounce Back Loan Repayments: Pay As You Grow

Are you one of the 1.5 million business owners that took out a Bounce Back Loan and you took it fairly early on? Well, by now, you will have had a letter from the bank advising that your payments have already started or will shortly be due. Many business owners are beginning to realise about the extent of the liability they took on. We’re certainly having more conversations with business owners who were not realising they’ve got to start paying this debt back.

A recent survey from Lloyds Bank highlighted that 29% of business owners didn’t realise that the government has now launched a new scheme called Pay As You Grow. Under this scheme, you’ve got a couple of options in order to lessen the pain of this first repayment. Obviously you’ve had this money now in your bank account for 12 months, and you’ve got a shock when this first repayment is coming due.

So what are you options? The government’s given you three things you can do. First of all, you can extend the term of the loan from 6 years up to 10 years. You can either take an interest only period for six months, or you can take a complete repayment extension for six months. So this is going to give you some breathing space.

Many people say this is not going to affect your credit record. Well, it’s kind of true in that it won’t go formerly on any of the credit reference agencies, so your record is clear from that point of view. However, do bear in mind, if you are taking one of these extension options, from the bank’s point of view in its internal records, you are flagging yourself up as a business that technically is still in distress. You’ve held your hand up and say, I can’t meet the payment and I need interest only; I need a complete holiday for six months or extend my loan for 10 years.

You are really sending a signal to that lender that all is not well.

Similarly, when you go to apply for finance with an external lender or third party lender, they will also be asking the question, when is your Bounce Back Loan repayment due? And again, if they’ve seen that you’ve taken advantage of this Pay As You Grow scheme, they will also take a step back and say, “Hey, you’re saying that you’re still in trouble.”

So whilst these schemes are great, just bear in mind, the potential impact or the unintended consequence asking for this forbearance can have. Of course, as always, if you are in trouble, make sure that you seek professional advice from your accountant or perhaps an insolvency practitioner, if your business is in that much of a kind of financial distress.

Whilst the scheme is great, just bear in mind, the unintended consequences that could happen if you request one of these forbearances.

Changes to Company Dissolution Rules

As I mentioned in the first section, the Bounce Back and CBILS loan repayments are now starting to be debited to business bank accounts, and the realization, as I said previously, it’s beginning to dawn on business owners, the liability that they’ve taken on and in many cases cashflow may still be a bit tight.

Regretfully, there may be some business directors out there who may think that I know what I’ll do, I’ll just dissolve my company and because I have no personal guarantees on the Bounce Back loan, or my CBILs (if you’ve taken it up to £250,000) why don’t I dissolve my company? That’s it job done. I walk away.

Well, the government is obviously wise to this because they’ve tabled a bill in parliament called the Ratings, (Coronavirus) and Director Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Bill. Why don’t they come up with more snappy names?

This bill is designed to give the Insolvency Service the ability to investigate Company Directors, where they believe the company has been deliberately dissolved in order to avoid paying back any of the government loan support schemes. If you are found guilty of doing this, you could face a ban from being a Company Directory for up to 15 years. It’s designed to stop directors closing one company down and immediately starting a similar company under a different name the very next day.

If you are thinking of trying to walk away from this liability by dissolving a company, watch out, this really could come back and bite you.

As I mentioned, the previous segment, if you do want to take some advice, make sure in this situation, you go and seek advice from an insolvency practitioner. These are the ones who can guide you through this process. Don’t try to be clever because it really will trip with you.

Dominance of Bank Lending

In 2010, When I established business loan services, we were very much in the middle of the credit crunch. From 2008, 2009 the main high street banks effectively withdrew from supporting small businesses with finance. That of course left the door wide open for the rise of the new alternative lenders. And these guys have really been championing the cause for small business finance, taking a large share of the market.

When 2020 arrived, the Coronavirus really is up ended this kind of evening out of competition issues where the banks had the dominance in the marketplace.

A new reports has come out by Social Market Foundation and Metro bank. They’ve worked out that pre-pandemic, the alternative finance providers had 48% of gross new lending to businesses. Post Corona virus, that’s now fallen to 31%. So we can see that the big banks are starting to come back into play.

However, it’s more by default than design because with the Bounce Backs and CBILs loans, very many of them have come from the high street banks. But the danger here of course, is as demand for finance remains quite muted, some businesses are sitting on a lot of cash and still have money left over from the Bounce Back Loans and CBILs. It means that some of these smaller alternative finance providers may struggle to make inroads into the marketplace if demand for finance remains muted.

The danger of course, is that some of these alternative finance providers may close their doors and that will be a shame because the high street banks naturally just do not have the appetite to support small businesses.

Let’s see what happens over the next 12 months or so and let’s hope that the marketplace still remains competitive when it comes to access to funds.

Wrap Up

That’s it if for another Bulletin. I hope you enjoyed watching and if you did, don’t forget to give it a like, a share and of course, subscribe to this channel.

That’s it for another week. I look forward to being with you next time. In the meantime, have a great and successful week.

To open our final Bulletin of 2019, a fitting close to this season with a look at the possible return of certainly following the Election result. Will the parliamentary majority be enough to overturn the feeling of uncertainty which has dominated the last 12 months?

Challenger banks are often at the leading edge when it comes to innovation and in terms of linking up with 3rd small business service providers that’s no exception. We look at announcements from Metro Bank and Starling Bank of partnerships available to their SME customers designed to improve efficiencies and access specialised services.

To wrap up our last episode for 2019, some good news on late payment. We review a new survey from MarketFinance which reveals that 2019 saw an improvement in late payment practices, lessening the cashflow strain for many small businesses.

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.

The credit crunch in 2008 was the start of the rise of the so-called Challenger Banks. This month, one of those early entrants, Aldermore Bank, celebrates its 10th anniversary. To open our latest Bulletin, we take a look at Aldermore’s achievements over the last 10 years.

When borrowing via a Limited Company, one downside is that lenders expect Directors to provide Personal Guarantees. Many can be reluctant to sign and in some cases it’s enough to put them off borrowing. However, that risk can be offset by taking out a Personal Guarantee Insurance policy. We take a look at how it works and where you can obtain such a Policy.

To close this Bulletin, news from The Small Business Commissioner that it has named-and-shamed another high profile business for its late payment practices. Another success story for the Commissioners Office with £32,000 paid following its intervention.

Many of our recent Bulletins have featured doom and gloom sentiments from businesses. We open this week’s Bulletin though with findings from Independent Growth Finance that some businesses are actually feeling positive about their growth prospects.

The so-called Challenger Banks which rose up after the Credit Crunch, are now maturing into solid providers of commercial finance. One such bank is Cambridge and Counties which has announced a new milestone in terms of its growth and reputation as a strong funding partner.

To round off this Bulletin, a look at the launch of a new fund from Santander and private investment group Topland focused on funding property developers. Traditionally not the domain of the High Street banks, the fund aims to support developers with a competitive finance package.

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.

Change affects all industries and that doesn’t exclude banking. We open our latest Bulletin with a look at a new report from UK Finance and EY which highlights the rise in mobile banking and what the future holds.

One of the aims of the British Business Bank is to support so called Challenger Banks with funding via the ENABLE Programme. The latest beneficiary is Cambridge and Counties Bank which will utilise the funding to expand its property and commercial lending portfolio.

To close, we share news of a pot of funding set aside by Lloyds Bank specifically for businesses working directly, or indirectly supporting construction of the new Hinkley Point nuclear power plant. Funding to businesses in the supply chain could give them confidence to bid for contracts. Could you make use of this?

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 credit crunch, a host of so called Challenger banks emerged to fill the gap left by the High Street banks. One such challenger is Cambridge and Counties Bank. We look at how the bank has supported growing businesses and the range of products and services it offers small business owners.

Lloyds Bank has announced the creation of a £2 billion Clean Growth Finance fund. The fund is focused on businesses that wish to create a low carbon and sustainable future by investing in environmentally-friendly projects.

To close, we share findings from the latest ICAEW Business Confidence Monitor which reveals that businesses continue to regain their fighting spirit with confidence levels reaching a two-year high.

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.

In the latest episode of the Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow looks at an alternative to the traditional bank overdraft. With banks providing less support in the form of overdraft facilities a new service has been launched by Growth Street to fill the gap.

There is news of a possible rival to PayPal which could be marketed by Apple in 2016, so one to watch.
Turning to challenger banks Rob looks at the results from Shawbrook Bank which shows strong growth in profits and increased support to SMEs.

Late payment continues to be a problem for growing businesses and in a new survey Rob shares findings that many businesses are reluctant to chase for payment or even charge interest as is their statutory right.

One way to alleviate the impact of late payment is to look at Invoice Discounting. To see how this works Rob chats with Kelvin Thomas from ABN Amro Commercial Finance on how it helps growing SMEs.

If you prefer to listen to the podcast version of this week’s Bulletin listen in below or download via our Soundcloud or itunes channel.

In the latest Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow discusses findings from the latest SME Finance Monitor report on small businesses appetite to borrow. Is it as strong as we think?

One industry sector that does struggle to raise finance is the UK house building trade. Rob shares news of a new fund Santander is putting together to help house builders who need development finance.

During the financial crisis short term business loans have become popular and Rob looks at the news of the takeover by EzBob of Everline. With both companies having lent a combined £54 million the short term business loan industry is set to grow further.

Following a workshop held by Aldermore Bank on Invoice Discounting Rob had a chance to catch up with Richard Whitehouse, Regional Sales Director to hear more about how invoice discounting can help unlock cash to fuel growth.

If you prefer to listen to this edition as a podcast click below or to download it to your phone click the download button.

In the latest Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow looks at findings from the ACCA and BACS on how businesses are being held back from growth by late payment.

Challenger bank Aldermore has released its 2014 trading figures and Rob looks at how they are helping UK businesses access finance.

The importance of business planning and putting together a growth strategy has been underlined by a recent survey from Barclays on how many businesses plan ahead. What do you need to think about when planning for growth?

In the Business Finance Tip of the Week Rob asks the question, ‘What do banks want?’

If you would prefer listening to this episode on your phone or PC you can download the podcast version by clicking below.

In the latest episode of the Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow from Business Loan Services discusses the government’s proposed scheme, Help to Grow, which aims to get finance to UK’s small and medium-sized businesses.
Managed by the British Business Bank Rob explains what type of businesses the scheme is looking to assist.

In the crowdfunding world Rob looks at news from AltFin on the amount of money the crowdfunding sector lent in 2014 and how a recent review undertaken by the Financial Conduct Authority has focused on encouraging crowdfunding platforms to reveal warts and all about the investments on offer.

In this episode Rob also chats with Keith Litherland, Business Development Manager from Aldermore Bank. Keith outlines the various ways in which Aldermore is helping UK businesses grow via its range of commercial finance products.

If you would also like to listen to the podcast version either on your PC or to download to your phone simply click below to play or download.