Footfall falls again – business news 27 October 2020.
James Salmon, Operations Director.
Footfall falls again across the UK, hotels unlikely to recover for four years, covid-19, market and other business news.
Here are CPA we want to share the business news stories we have seen that we think will affect our members and readers. Many of us are busy fighting to protect our businesses and therefore might have missed some of the news that could impact small businesses, their owners and those that sell on credit.
Footfall falls again across the UK
The number of people shopping at UK retail destinations – including high streets, shopping centres and retail parks – dropped by 1.2% last week, according to the latest data from Springboard. The annual decline in footfall across the UK reached a 32.9% last week, with the biggest annual fall in Wales at 40.3%.
Hotels unlikely to recover for four years
Forecasts published today by PwC indicate the UK hotel industry could take four years to return to 2019 levels of business. Occupancy rates are expected to average 45% next year, up from between a third and two-fifths in 2020 but still an unprecedentedly bleak outlook.
Covid-19 general news
Global cases top 43.4 million with 493,261 new cases as deaths exceed 1.16 million. In the UK we had 20,890 new cases with 102 new deaths.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing a revolt from more than 50 member of his own party who are demanding a clear route out of lock-down for the northern parts of the country which have been placed under tier 3 restrictions. It was victory in the North that handed the conservatives a resounding election victory last year and many of the MPs are worried that their grip on power is being loosened
Eli Lilly & Co. said a U.S.-run clinical trial of its experimental antibody therapy will endafter it was shown not to benefit hospitalised patients.
While AstraZeneca Plc’s vaccine candidate produced a robust immune response in elderly people.
New research from the U.K. suggests antibody responses may diminish over time. From 365,000 U.K. adults who tested themselves at home, 4.4% had antibodies in September, compared with 6% in June, according to research published Tuesday by Imperial College London and polling service Ipsos MORI. The study suggests that antibodies, a marker of exposure to the coronavirus, may not be lasting in all people who have been infected, adding to other research indicating that immunity may be finite.
India’s daily infections fell below 40,000 for the first time in more than three months.
Markets.
The FTSE 100 fell 1.2% and the 250 fell 1.4% having gyrated between high losses at the open to small gains to more modest losses in late afternoon. A host of covid-19 affected stocked weighed on the index. BP, IAG, Rolls Royce, Royal Dutch Shell, TUI, Whitbread are all Covid-19 exposed. Travel stocks also fell as Italy and Spain increased lockdown restrictions knocking TUI down by 8.9% and IAG by 7.6%.
US stocks opened with losses yesterday afternoon, as reality set in that the next round of stimulus would have to wait until after the November 3rd presidential election increasing fears over the state of the economy. Also depressing sentiment was news that Covid-19 cases in the US had exceeded 8.8 million with total US covid-19 deaths above 230,000 and over 40,000 in hospital. The DOW dropped -2.29%, the S&P 500 dropped -1.86% and the NASDAQ dropped -1.64%. Stocks in Asia have been mimicking the fall.
The US Senate confirmed Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in a victory for President Trump a week before the presidential election. Trump’s fellow Republicans voted 52-48 to approve the judge, overcoming the unified opposition of Democrats.
Movements in the for-exchange markets remain relatively limited and indecisive
The Oil price picked up where it left off last week and continued dropping yesterday, as increasing coronavirus cases in the US and Europe raised worries about demand, while Libya’s growing production weighed on prices. The Gold price however edged higher as growing fears over a second wave countered a firmer dollar and a lack of progress on US stimulus negotiations ahead of the US election.
Brexit
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that “time is very short” to overcome the big stumbling blocks in Brexit negotiations, as EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier meets with ministers today to try and finalise a last-minute trade deal.
Gin
Diageo has agreed a deal to buy Herefordshire gin and vodka-maker Chase Distillery. The takeover, for an undisclosed amount, will see the Tanqueray and Gordon’s owner further expand its UK gin business as customer demand for premium spirits continues to surge.
SAP
Shares in SAP, Europe’s largest software company, dropped by as much as 20% after the firm cut its revenue and profit forecasts for this year. Many technology companies have thrived during the pandemic. But because lockdowns have hurt business confidence, big companies have been spending less on big IT projects, showing not all tech is faring well.
BP
BP has returned to profit despite falling oil prices as it slashes its costs.
Government accused of being opaque over Covid loans
Labour MP Darren Jones, the chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee, has criticised the Government’s decision not to publish the names of companies receiving money through schemes such as the Coronavirus Businesses Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) and the Future Fund. “I am still not satisfied by the Government’s explanation as to why it isn’t publishing the data of which companies have received what funding, including through the Future Fund, given taxpayers could end up as shareholders of a whole portfolio of start-up businesses”, he wrote. Jones also accused the Government of letting private equity groups “cash in” on state-backed coronavirus loans, by allowing the companies they own to use the funding to cover the costs of the large debts used to buy them.
Half of house purchases at risk of collapse
Property market analysts Twentyci predict that as many as 325,000 homebuyers who agree to purchase a property before the end of the year are expected to miss out on the stamp duty holiday, which comes to an end on March 31. Conveyancing, surveying, mortgage and search services have been overwhelmed after the stamp duty cut and an end to lockdown led to a boom in house sales. Twentyci calculates that if one in five buyers decides to pull out of their purchase it could lead to 53% of sales collapsing by March. Zena Hanks, a partner with Saffery Champness, suggested that the government could consider introducing “a transition period” to avoid the March 31 cliff edge.
Peer-to-peer investors told loans are gone
Over 3,500 people who invested through the peer-to-peer lending platform Funding Secure have been told the prospect of recovering many of the loans is zero and that administrators may lack the resources to pursue errant borrowers for shortfalls. Securing a return on these loans was “highly unlikely, if not impossible”, insolvency practitioners at Manchester-based CG & Co said. Funding Secure was founded in 2012 and arranged more than £175m of loans. At the point of its collapse about £80m was outstanding.
Campaign launched to recruit 10,000 black interns in British companies
Credit Suisse, PwC, Zurich Insurance and Linklaters are among the first groups to sign up to a campaign offering paid work experience to 10,000 black graduate interns.
Millennials misguided over retirement age
Research by Hargreaves Lansdown has found the average age at which millennials expect to retire is 63. Around one in eight 18- to 34-year-olds expect to retire by the age of 55. This is despite the state pension age being at least 66 and possibly as high as 68 for this age group. Hargreaves Lansdown’s Sarah Coles said some savers may be “in for a nasty surprise”. She commented: “The vast majority of people paying into pensions today will have far less generous defined contribution pensions, which means we’ll retire on smaller, non-guaranteed incomes. If we retire too early, there’s a risk we could run low on funds as we go through retirement.” The survey found older people were more likely to be realistic about their retirement prospects with those over the age of 55 expecting to retire at 67 and 11 months on average.
Don’t let Covid-19 bust your business!
It will if your cash flow dries up, either sooner or later.
The Credit Protection Association (CPA) has been assisting thousands of UK businesses to get paid since 1914. We have seen many financial crises, this one will be particularly deadly for suppliers for sometime to come.
CPA eases cash from tardy debtors – Efficiently, Effectively, Economically and Ethically. Above all tactfully, because maintenance of goodwill is paramount.
To meet the needs of creditors in the current crisis, we have designed a “critical care” package especially tailored for the situation.
- The annual package costs start at very low rates
- A minimum performance warranty is provided
- Several complimentary services included
Clients instruct CPA on-line via their PC or phone, completely user-friendly. Your late paying customers are told to pay you direct (not to us).
A very recent report shows a 23% increase in the number of unpaid invoices since March 11th THIS YEAR – are you getting a build-up of late payers?
Right now, overdue accounts must be a concern and CPA has a great track record of encouraging slow-payers to pay their suppliers quickly.
It takes less than 17 minutes to see how you would benefit, do you have the time now?
No face-to-face meeting required – just call Peter Uwins, CPA’s National Sales Manager, on 020 8846 0000 (business hours) or email nsm@cpa.co.uk today.
When you see your money come in, you will be so glad you used CPA.
Do you sell on credit?
With pressures on the cash flow it is essential that you stay on top of the credit limits you grant customers and watch carefully for any late payments.
Those customers will look for the easiest option to boost their cash-flow. Don’t let it be you.
You can’t just assume your customers can and will pay you eventually, no matter how big their name is.
It is essential to have credit management systems in place to monitor and check your customers credit worthiness.
It is also best practice to use a trusted third party like CPA to make sure you are paid on time by customers, no matter how good a name they have.
About CPA
The Credit Protection Association can help!
Formed in 1914, CPA has been providing credit management services to SMEs for over 100 years.
At the Credit Protection Association, we provide first class credit information that can help you avoid being over extended to customers who are at risk. Our monitoring service can flag up warning signs long before the end, giving you the chance to adjust and reduce your exposure. We provide recommended credit limits and credit scores on a traffic light system and can help you set appropriate credit policies for your customers.
We regularly publish lists of the latest insolvencies but by then it is too late. Our credit reports however predict approximately 96% of company insolvencies long before they arrive.
Companies in trouble usually have very bad cash flow and they try to deal with it by delaying payment to their suppliers, increasing your exposure to them.
If you supply on credit, help us help you identify the risks.
Why use a third party collector?
As a third party collector, we can also get your payments prioritised over those who are not as hot on collections. When your customer receives a letter from the Credit Protection Association regarding their outstanding account, they are going to want to get that resolved as a priority. Our overdue account recovery service can get your unpaid invoices to the top of their “to do” list and get your invoice paid.
Over the years we have collected billions in overdue invoices for our customers.
Our debt recovery and credit management services give our members the financial freedom needed to grow and prosper, while our new Late Payment Compensation department could unlock hidden potential and offer the compensation needed to springboard your business to success.
You might be hesitant about contacting a debt collection agency. What are they going to be like?
Can they help your particular type of business?
There is no need for concern. CPA are courteous, helpful and very probably have had direct experience of working with your type of business.
Debt collection agencies are not all alike.
Success lies in both recovering money and keeping customers happy. The Credit Protection Association was founded in 1914 and has helped tens of thousands of UK businesses to collect outstanding payments and reduce the risk of incurring bad debt. We believe that creditors deserve to be paid for the work or goods they have supplied but we fully understand the need to maintain
the best possible relationship with customers!
At The Credit Protection Association, we provide solutions, advice and back-up in all areas relating to the supply of services or goods on account. Client-members receive everything they need from a single source to reduce debtor days and write-offs.
The Credit Protection Association has helped has assisted tens of thousands of UK businesses with their credit control requirements, since the First World War.
We are polite, firm and efficient when it comes to recovering outstanding debt.
“We have used CPA for a number of years now. The website is easy to navigate around with lots of helpful reports. The staff are always at hand and very friendly. CPA has helped us reduce our debt over the years and keep track of potential issues with our customers.”
~ CPA client in Buckinghamshire
“The service from CPA has proved to be everything that you said it would be. We have already seen a huge benefit. We have had a number of overdue accounts paid promptly and directly to us. It is also a huge weight off our mind to know that once we have passed an overdue payment over to you, you take care of everything whilst keeping us informed.
~ Credit Controller client in Warrington
The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections
Ready to speak to an advisor?
For help or advice on credit management, entirely without obligation.
Call us today
0330 053 9263
CPA is passionate about late payment
The Credit Protection Association has been protecting smaller firms against poor payment practices for over 100 years.
We are extremely passionate about breaking the late payment culture that holds back the UK economy and threatens many SMEs, with cash flow difficulties being the single biggest killer of Britain’s small businesses.
If you were regularly paid late we can help. Those former customers used you to boost their own cashflow, regularly paying you late.
As a result you had extra costs, you had the distraction of having to chase payment, you had opportunity costs because your capital was tied up in their late invoices.
Under little used legislation, you are entitled to compensation for those late payments.
You put up with the PAIN – now claim the GAIN!
Now you can boost your own cash-flow.
CPA can help unearth the those hidden treasures.
We have the technology to reveal the compensation you are due and we have the extensive experience and expertise to then turn those claims into cash.
Did you know that your business is entitled to a minimum of £40 for every commercial invoice paid late to you over the past 6 years?
How many of your invoices are paid late each month – 20, 50, 100 or more?
At £40 per invoice that’s claim of £57,600, £144,000, £288,000 plus interest. The more invoices the bigger the claim!
At £100 per invoice it’s £144,000, £360,000, £720,000 plus interest.
For over 20 years, CPA has calculated and recovered Late Payment Compensation on behalf of Clients!
Yes, CPA can help you boost your business cash-flow.
Don’t let your bankers control you, contact CPA today.
The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections.
Do you realise you could be sitting on a fortune?
Late payments often result in a cash flow crunch and leave SMEs in need of a cash injection.
If you sold B2B on credit then there may be a hidden source of capital you can call on.
If you fancy an extra bit of extra cash in your business, rather than jumping through hoops with your bank, you could look to uncover the resources from an unexpected source within your own business.
Not many are aware but there could be a hidden fortune within your business, sitting there, just waiting to be uncovered and released.
We can help you uncover the pile of gold, you didn’t even know you were sitting on.
If you trade with other businesses and were often paid late then you could be entitled to significant compensation.
Under little known and under-utilised legislation your business could be due huge amounts in compensation that you didn’t even know about.
Let’s be clear – this is not a way to weaken any customer relationships you value. It is one that identifies who’s been paying late and then recover the potentially significant sums in compensation using Late Payment Legislation from businesses where the relationship has already ended.
You can pick and choose who you want us to follow up – but once we’ve agreed which companies you’d like to pursue compensation from it’s a fast process and there’s no financial outlay to you whatsoever. My team at CPA put its expertise to work to recover the compensation due and fight late payment culture.
That compensation could provide the cash boost your business needed.
But don’t delay, that compensation evaporates if not claimed within six years of the late payment.
How can CPA help?
CPA has developed a unique technology to dig into your accounting records and discover the cash injection you are due by means of compensation. The software does all the hard work. Our software interacts over the cloud with over 300 different software packages, working directly with your accounts package, just so long as it’s stored on a computer.
We recognise that most companies do not have the resources to spend time on the identification and calculation of Late Payment Compensation. Our service can produce an Analyses within just a few days with (usually) less than 30 mins of co-operation from our clients. We work directly with over 300 accounting packages but can also work with bespoke accounts packages. Indeed, speed is essential as the oldest invoices may fall foul of the 6-year time limit.
Once the Sales Ledger Analyses is made available to clients, all that is required is that management decide which commercially sensitive ex-customers to remove from the list and return it to us.
CPA then uses its years of collection experience to explain and recover the Late Payment Compensation Claims. Clients do not handle any part of the recovery process as our team will take all communications from the companies against who the claims has been made. Often, it’s simply a case of explaining the legislation, sometimes we have to go all the way and enforce the legislation through the courts.
The result is that we are realising clients’ claims worth tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of pounds which, of course, is pure net profit. You may also be among the recipients of “hundreds of thousands of pounds” should you elect to take advantage of our services.
We do the work, you receive the cash.
If you have supplied goods and services to businesses on credit and were regularly paid late then you could be due significant sums in late payment compensation.
We are talking to companies and unearthing claims in the hundreds of thousands from former business customers who paid them late. Large business customers who abused their power to inflict unfair and sometimes illegal payment practices.
We are helping business owners who are looking to boost the returns from their business before they retire. We are helping businesses who have lost major clients after years of loyal service to get properly compensated for systematic late payment. We are helping companies that were looking to close down, who looked insolvent and finding that cash injection they need to avoid insolvency.
Those former clients who regularly paid you late can finally be made to pay.
Ready to speak to an advisor?
For help or advice on credit management, entirely without obligation.
Call us today
0330 053 9263
The Credit Protection Association is a credit management company established in 1914. If you supply goods or services on credit then we can help you!
The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections.
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The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections.