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.

When the alternative finance providers entered the market to satisfy small businesses demand for finance, it was personal investors who provide the cash. We are now seeing institutional investors taking serious interest in the sector with announcements of tie-ups from Funding Circle and Thin Cats.

As well as holding back growth, late payment can have a costly impact on small businesses. BACS, the payment service provider, has taken a look at how late payment can affect small businesses, both in terms of cash and other knock-on effects.

To close this Bulletin, news from short-term lender Iwoca, which has announced agreements with another two major High Banks to utilise the benefits of Open Banking. Another step forward in speeding up access to finance.

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 open this edition, we look at the announcement from Funding Circle, the business peer-to-peer lender, that the British Business Bank is to provide £150m for on-lending to UK small businesses. This second tranche of from the bank is set to support approximately 2,000 businesses.

The latest figures from UK Finance, the banking industry’s trade body, reveals that small business appetite to borrow is still on the wane. The fall in borrowing from the banks has tuned into businesses seemingly hoarding cash with a jump in amount of money held on deposit.

To close, positive news in a recent report by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance which points to a continued rise in lending provided by the alternative finance sector. But it’s not only the supply of debt on the rise; equity facilitated by specialist platforms has also seen an increase.

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.

Accessing finance via Angel investors is one source of growth finance. Who are these investors and what do they look for when taking a stake in a business? To open this Bulletin, we look at the latest annual Angel investor review undertaken by the British Business Bank and the UK Business Angels Association.

Since its inception in 2010 Funding Circle has supported thousands of small businesses via its business loan product. To understand the impact their support has had on the UK economy Funding Circle teamed up with Oxford Economics to carry out an in-depth study. The results show how access to finance can have a positive knock-on effect in the economy.

Despite the benefits of sensible borrowing the latest report from the SME Finance Monitor team reveals that demand for finance remains weak. The report highlights how the number of businesses declaring they have no intention of borrowing money has reached a new 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.

To open our latest Bulletin, we share the great news that Funding Circle has invited BLS to join its Business Champion Programme. This is in recognition of the quality introductions we have made to them, adherence to their guidelines and our knowledge of the marketplace. So how will our inclusion to the Programme benefit our clients?

More developments in the mobile banking industry with the announcement from CountingUp that it has now launched its Business Bank Account. We look at how the service differs from other mobile banking apps on the market.

To close this edition, we review two surveys from Bibby Financial Services and the Institute of Directors which reveal that business confidence continues to recover from recent low points. However, businesses still see a number of challenges facing them when it comes to 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.

The Programme is only opened to selected Finance Brokers and our inclusion to this exclusive group is a recognition of the high-quality clients we have introduced to Funding Circle during our association.

Our focus on supporting our clients, by investing time in understanding their business and assisting Funding Circle in their assessment by carrying out a thorough due diligence in advance of submitting a loan application, has been key to maintaining our high performing loan portfolio.

How does our inclusion on the Business Champion Programme benefit our clients?

The programme will bring:

• Dedicated service support from Funding Circle which will include priority review of our applications so leading to a quicker overall turnaround
• And, perhaps more importantly for our clients, confirmation that we offer the best possible Funding Circle solution – a definite plus!

Thanks to the Funding Circle team who have supported BLS over the years, including James Lovett, Dan Stanton and our current Manager Alex Austin.

The British Business Bank, which was established to improve small business access to finance, has issued its latest Annual Report. In our latest Bulletin, we take a look at the progress the Bank has made over the last 12 months.

Alternative lenders are being increasingly quirky in how they tap into new markets to offer finance. We look at the news of a link-up between Funding Circle and takeaway app Just Eat which aims to boost takeaway owner’s access to finance.

The Federation of Small Businesses has always championed ways of tackling late payment and so it comes as no surprise that it has launched a service to help small businesses get paid on overdue 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.

In this edition of the Business Finance Bulletin, we start off by looking at an announcement from Clydesdale & Yorkshire Bank of funds set aside to support growing businesses during 2017 and 2019.

The latest monthly survey from the SME Finance Monitor team reveals small business owner’s growth plans and how exporters are more ambitious. There is also more evidence that businesses are reigning in their desire to borrow money to fund growth.

Funding Circle, one of the leading lights in the peer-to-peer lending market, has stated that it is winding down their property development finance offering so it can devote resources to its core business loan product.

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 small businesses can sometimes beat the bigger players in the market, occasionally we can learn a trick or two from them. In this edition of the Business Finance Bulletin, we take a look at strategies being employed by Chief Financial Officers to boost their company’s performance. What tips can you take action on?

How do small business owners view the finance market and their growth prospects? That’s a question posed in the latest Business Finance Survey carried out by the British Business Bank. Not surprisingly, the survey reveals positive news… and less positive expectations when looking ahead.

To close the Bulletin, we share news on a new milestone reached by peer-to-peer lender, Funding Circle, in terms of the amount it has lent to 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, Stitcher or itunes channel.