Huge amounts of support being offered up to UK SMEs by the banks to help cope with #coronavirus disruption. Plenty of lobbying for the Chancellor to act tomorrow too. Here’s your round up… NatWest pledges £5bn to support SMEs NatWest has promised £5bn to support UK small and medium-sized...
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Banks are issuing emergency loans to businesses experiencing financial strain on the back of the coronavirus outbreak, with Barclays, Santander UK and Royal Bank of Scotland among those who have been contacting business customers to check whether factory disruptions in China have put their supply chains and cash flow...
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The end of 2019 saw UK manufacturers hit by one of their harshest months for a decade as political turmoil put pressure on the industry, according to the IHS Markit/CIPS manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index. The index fell from 48.9 in November to 47.5 in December. Some economists have expressed...
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The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) says government borrowing will increase by around £20bn a year due to accounting changes. Its updated forecasts show that the budget deficit will be £33.3bn by 2023/24, up from a previous estimate of £13.5bn. Much of the difference between the new total and...
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Bank of England figures reveals that banks and building societies made 64,602 approvals for mortgages in October – 2% lower than the previous month and the weakest since March. The average rate on new mortgages is 1.96%, compared to the 2.39% average on existing home loans. Meanwhile, the pace...
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New research from PayPal suggests the number of UK businesses selling through social media sites and smartphone apps is predicted to double in the next six months. The research found that 8.4m British consumers shop via social media, with Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat being among the most popular channels....
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Research by Moneyfacts reveals that banks are now charging an average of 25.1% for credit card purchases – the highest-ever figure – leading former pensions minister Baroness Altmann to accuse providers of profiteering. Baroness Altmann says the Bank of England’s attempt to stimulate the economy by lowering its base...
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The John Lewis Partnership is to axe a third of its senior management roles as part of a significant restructuring from February next year. JLP will merge the management teams at John Lewis and Waitrose into a single team, with the aim of saving £100m through the loss of...
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The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has launched an investigation into the collapse of travel firm Thomas Cook, which will examine EY’s audit of the company for the year ending September 30th, 2018. The FRC said the investigation would first look at whether EY had a case to answer, and...
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We always try our best to keep our ear to the ground and give early warnings to business owners about worrying trends. The one that clearly jumped out for us this week was that scale of rising insolvencies in the restaurant sector over the past year. The warning signs...
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