GDP rebounded in Q3 – business news 12 November 2020.
James Salmon, Operations Director.
GDP rebounded in Q3 ,BoE policymaker says negative interest rates could benefit economy, Charity says Britain ‘sleep-walking’ into personal debt crisis, UK retailers and wholesalers more resilient than ever, 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.
GDP rebounded in Q3
The UK Economy grew by 15.5% in the third quarter, according to preliminary figures published this morning, as GDP rebounded from a sharp downturn. The third-quarter bounce marks the UK’s sharpest quarterly expansion since records began in 1955, but GDP is still 9.7% below where it was at the end of 2019.
The rise in GDP over the third quarter of this year reflects the reignited economy over this time period which has benefited SMEs among other businesses. Nevertheless, with the latest lockdown measures now in place in England significantly disrupting capital inflows, many smaller business will be struggling to stay afloat
BoE policymaker says negative interest rates could benefit economy
Bank of England policymaker Silvana Tenreyro believes negative interest rates could help lenders and the economy at large recover from the effects of the coronavirus crisis. She remarked: “The positive evidence related to negative interest rate policy comes from Europe, where it has worked fairly well.” This comes after Bank of England deputy governor Ben Broadbent noted recently that the issue of whether sub-zero interest rates could have counterproductive effects on banks’ balance sheets during times of stress should be considered by policymakers.
Charity says Britain ‘sleep-walking’ into personal debt crisis
StepChange has warned that Britain is “sleep-walking” into a personal debt crisis with the number of people in severe financial difficulty now at approximately 1.2m due to the coronavirus pandemic. The charity said a further 3m people are at risk with 5.6m already in arrears or borrowing to make ends meet. Household borrowing and arrears linked to the coronavirus pandemic have soared 66% since May to £10.3bn. StepChange CEO Phil Andrew said the Government and banks needed to provide further protective measures.
UK retailers and wholesalers more resilient than ever
After years of big change from the rise in e-commerce, to preparing for Brexit, nearly half of businesses felt well-prepared for Covid-19. Firms had already been diversifying supply chains (28%) and stockpiling (24%) due to Brexit. Covid-19 has forced retailers to accelerate further change like shifting to e-commerce (50%) and setting up shop locally (24%). Meanwhile, during the pandemic, 52% of wholesalers began selling direct-to-consumer for the first time.
Since the start of the pandemic, the disruption faced by businesses across the UK has been unprecedented. A new report from Barclays Corporate Banking reveals this is especially true for the retail and wholesale sector, which has suffered extreme changes in its supply chains and consumer demand. For both retailers and wholesalers, a key impact of Covid-19 was on supply chains. Before the pandemic, the average supply chain took five weeks from start to end but this has since doubled to ten weeks. Now, firms do not expect supply to return to normal until at least March 2021.
Despite this, many retailers have been able to trade on, thanks to a huge surge in sales. Over half of all retailers (55%) saw an increase in demand, which for three quarters (73%) caused temporary product shortages. Among those who saw the biggest increase in orders were DIY and garden (74%), food and drink (63%) and sports and leisure (62%) businesses.
Whilst most wholesalers saw the opposite effect, with 53% experiencing a fall in demand due to the closure of restaurants, bars and pubs, nearly a third (29%) saw a significant increase in orders. This could have been down to consumers changing their buying behaviours and trying new hobbies during lockdown – with the smallest and largest wholesalers benefiting the most (32% and 43% experiencing a significant increase in orders, respectively).
The research reveals that retail and wholesale businesses felt surprisingly prepared for the shock of Covid-19. Nearly half (44%) of retailers and wholesalers felt well-prepared, while just one in five (19%) felt the opposite.
In turn, handling the pandemic left retailers and wholesalers feeling more equipped for the end of the Brexit transition period on 31st December. Those feeling better prepared have had their supply chains stress-tested (54%) and as a result, made changes to it (47%). Meanwhile, 55% think the economic impacts of Brexit will not be as severe as those of the virus.
Pay small firms’ postage, Rishi told
Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine has written to the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, urging him to cover postage fees for small businesses at Christmas to help “level the playing field” with giants such as Amazon. Mike Cherry, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “This creative idea would boost small businesses.”
Massive rent shortfall poses risk to landlords
Landlords are facing a £4.5bn rent shortfall by the end of the year with collection rates remaining at around 75% and service charge payments at similar levels. With the Government’s ban on evictions and aggressive rent collection, concerns are growing that tenants increasingly will turn to company voluntary arrangements and this in turn could affect property owners’ ability to meet repayments on loans secured against properties.
Record number of firms see BBI investment
The annual report of British Business Investments (BBI), the consumer arm of the government-backed British Business Bank, reveals an additional 15 commitments of £547m in the year to 31 March 2020. The BBI has supported over 37,000 SMEs this year, representing an increase of almost 9% year-on-year, with investments including a £15m commitment to Assetz Capital, a Manchester-headquartered property-focused marketplace lender. BBI chair Francis Small commented: “Excluding the exceptional impact of COVID-19 on our financial return, British Business Investments has once again delivered on its overall objectives. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on many of the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses. We have worked closely with our delivery partners and have increased our commitments to them, as they have continued to provide essential finance to the UK’s SMEs.”
Brexit
The UK and EU are reportedly not on track to hit this week’s deadline to seal a post-Brexit trade deal. Sources close to the negotiations said talks are set to drag into next week, despite both sides’ commitment to “redouble” efforts, as disagreements on fisheries and state aid policy continues to prevent serious progress.
Covid-19 general news
The UK had 22,950 new cases yesterday. At the same time. we passed the grim milestone of being the first European country to pass 50,000 Covid-19 related deaths.
Globally 666,955 new cases were added to bring us over 52 million with deaths rising over 12 thousand to 1,285,379.
Conservative MPs have set up a group to fight any future lockdown in England, arguing it would be “devastating” for the economy. The Covid Recovery Group, which has around 50 MP members, wants the country to live with C-19 after restrictions end next month.
England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said on Wednesday Britain will be ready to immunise people against COVID-19 as fast as pharmaceutical companies can deliver supplies of a vaccine once it has been approved
Talking of vaccines, Moderna Inc. said its trial has reached a key target for analyzing their vaccines effectiveness and will be announcing soon the result of its phase 3 trials and Brazil reversed its decision to suspend Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s studies.
However, AstraZeneca Plc said its blood-cancer medicine Calquence failed to help patients hospitalized with respiratory symptoms of Covid-19.
More than 139,000 new infections were counted yesterday in the US and the number of patients in American hospitals with covid-19 hit a new record of almost 62,000, surpassing the previous peak set in April.
Markets.
Investors continued to react positively to the vaccine news as the FTSE 100 climbed 1.4% yesterday and the 250 was up 1.6%. US tech shares however started to mount a recovery. Overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.77% and the NASDAQ rose 2.01%. Oil was modestly up after OPEC said it was reviewing its planned production increases. Gold also stabalised after falling in response to economic news.
Alibaba
Alibaba said it made sales of $70.6bn by the evening of the first day of its Singles’ Day shopping event, which this year will last four days. However, regulators in China signaled plans to clamp down on anti-competitive behaviour by fintech firms hitting shares of the company.
B&M
B&M European Retail has reported a 95% rise in first-half core earnings as its low prices and out-of-town stores chimed with consumers during the Covid-19 lockdown. B&M, which sells everything from homewares and toys to electricals and food, said it made adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £295.6m in the six months to 26 September almost double the same period last year.
WH Smith
WH Smith made a headline loss of £69 million in the 12 months to the end of August, according to its preliminary results statement. Revenue from its travel outlets was down 32%, while high street store revenue was down 19%. WH Smith reported that its US business was showing signs of recovery through an increase in domestic travel.
Working from home should be taxed ‘to support vulnerable jobs’
No its not 1st April but Economists at Deutsche Bank have ridiculously suggested employers pay an extra 5% tax on the salaries of staff who work remotely to help support workers whose jobs are under threat.
The bank argues this is only fair, as those who work from home are saving money and not paying into the system like those who go out to work.
In the UK, Deutsche Bank calculates the tax would generate a pot of £6.9bn a year, which could pay out grants of £2,000 a year to low-income workers and those under threat of redundancy
“For years we have needed a tax on remote workers,” wrote Deutsche Bank strategist Luke Templeman, apparently with a straight face. “Covid has just made it obvious. Quite simply, our economic system is not set up to cope with people who can disconnect themselves from face-to-face society.”
Think tank demands steep tax rises
The Resolution Foundation has proposed the most stark increase in taxes since 1993 as a means to balance public finances. The think tank says a new health and social care levy, placing a 4% tax on all incomes above £12,500 coupled with cuts to national insurance, would generate a total of £17bn, of which £6bn should address social care funding shortfalls. Employees earning less than £19,500 and self-employed workers with income of less than £17,000 would be better off but the majority of the workforce would face tax hikes. Thresholds would be frozen, corporation tax would rise to 22% and CGT and inheritance tax reliefs would be cut. The Foundation suggested waiting until 2023 before raising taxes. But Syed Kamall, research director at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “The Treasury should be turning its attention to ensuring the economy can bounce back from coronavirus by considering a radical package of measures to reduce the tax and regulatory burden on businesses to allow them to sustain existing jobs and create new ones.”
OTS recommends CGT overhaul
Three times as many people will have to pay capital gains tax (CGT) under plans put forward by the Office for Tax Simplification, as the Government looks to fill the fiscal hole left by the COVID-19 crisis. A report from the statutory body found the disparity between CGT and income tax rates often distorted “business and family decision-making” and created a tax incentive for taxpayers to re-characterise income and capital gains. The OTS suggested bringing CGT into line with income tax, meaning higher rate taxpayers would face a flat rate of 40% or 45%, slashing personal allowances and passing bills down the generations in a move which could raise more than £18bn a year. The report comes after think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research estimated that the Government could raise an extra £90bn over five years if CGT and income tax rates were brought into line. Nimesh Shah, chief executive Blick Rothenberg, suggested that the study was politically motivated and went beyond tax simplification, saying: “This report contains more policy direction than any other report I have seen from the OTS.”
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.