late payment crisis deepens through lock-down – business news 29 June 2020.
29 June 2020.
James Salmon, Operations Director.
We cover the late payment crisis during the covid-19 crisis, late payments of mortgages other covid and market news, a revival plan for the economy, what the future holds, unemployment, taxes, wirecard, insolvencies and a whole lot more.
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.
Late payment crisis deepens through lock-down
Almost two thirds of small businesses have been subject to late or frozen payments during the Covid-19 outbreak, according to a survey of more than 4,000 firms.
The FSB has called for the Government to bring an end to the late payment crisis which has been worsened by the coronavirus crisis, saying large corporations that have received help from the Government amid the pandemic should be forced to pay their suppliers within a month.
It is apparent that many large companies that have received state aid have hoarded that cash to boost their own cash-flow, rather than improve cashflow across the supply chain, using their dominant position to choke cash flow to small suppliers.
A new report from the FSB reveals that 62% of small businesses have been subject to late or frozen payments in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, despite only 10% agreeing to altered payment terms with clients.
The study also shows that there is no discernible difference in late payment activity between public and private sector supply chains.
Late payments due across the country rose 80% to £23.4bn at the end of last year.
The time has come for the long-awaited review of the Prompt Payment Code and the strengthening of the late payment compensation.
The Government promised to act a year ago. Time is running out – we need to see delivery.
Late payment compensation levels were set almost 2 decades ago and need to be increased to represent the real cost of late payments and provide a real deterrent.
See below for how CPA would use the legislation to fight the late payment culture. If you are a small business that has sold on credit to other businesses, look at see how we can get you compensated for the late payments you have suffered in the last last five or six years. You could be due a real windfall! a life line in the current crisis.
A spokesman for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said: “Late payment can mean the difference between survival and bankruptcy for many small businesses. We expect big companies to stand by their smaller partners and pay them on time.
“We are working to tackle the culture of late payments to protect jobs and livelihoods, including by strengthening the Prompt Payment Code and reviewing the powers of the Small Business Commissioner.”
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.
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.
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 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
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.
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.
Other News
One in seven borrowers fail to pay on time
Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows that one in seven households are falling behind on repaying their mortgages due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The study found that 1.4m homeowners, or 14%, had failed to pay their mortgages last month.
The IFS said both lower income households and higher earners were struggling to keep up with payments, saying: “Poorer households seem to be falling behind by more on council tax and utility bills but non-payment of mortgages is spread more evenly across the income distribution.”
Covid-19 general news
The number of coVID-19 cases worldwide has reached 10 million, and the death toll passed 500,000 on Sunday, with daily infections escalating in the U.S.A, India and Brazil. Cases in the USA have risen 65% in the last fortnight — they now exceed 2.5 million.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that $31.3 billion is needed to pay for international effort against covid-19 over the next year, of which it has only $3.4 billion. The money is needed for testing, treatments and vaccines. The problem is compounded by the US pulling out of the WHO in May, alleging it was too close to China early in the pandemic, cutting off a large part of its funding.
According to a study by University of Oxford researchers, the percentage of Covid-19 patients in hospital in England that are dying has fallen in England from 6% to 1.5% between April and June. The reduced death rate is pout down to improvements in treatments, changes in the patient population and seasonal effects which all play a role.
Coronavirus testing data will be discussed at meeting this morning between Leicester‘s mayor and UK government officials amid suggestions a local lockdown could be imposed on the city.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to spend large sums on hospitals, schools and roads in order to jump start the economy that’s been battered by the covid lock-down. He has promised their will no return to the austerity response of the last crisis.
Markets.
Stocks climbed on the FTSE 100 by 0.2% on the back of a falling pound while most other indexes were in the red. The pound looks to be repositioning ahead of this week’s brexit negotiations to reflect a negative outlook on the talks. Most other markets were down as fears grew of a second wave of the virus. US stocks closed down 2.42%, to their lowest level in weeks Gold prices also closed close to 7 year high while oil fell to around $41.
Chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak said that the government bailouts are not an “attractive long term feature of the economy” as companies struggle with the impact of covid-19. The number of people unemployed and claiming benefits jumped 23 per cent to 2.8 million last month as the pandemic forced businesses to close. Job centre figures show an 126 per cent increase in claimants since the start of lock-down.
Trade talks between the UK and the EU resume today. The plan is to intensify and speed up the negotiations, some of which will happen this week in person in Brussels
FTSE 100 ends week down 3.2%
London’s FTSE 100 may have outperformed world stocks on Friday closing up 0.2% on a defensive rally. However, the blue-chip index was down 3.2% on the week having recovered more than 35% since March and remains down about 18% this year.
“There are still big question marks over how willing households will be to go out and spend if fear of the virus lingers. And we are concerned that a second wave of unemployment will reduce the ability of households to spend,” said Ruth Gregory, senior UK economist at Capital Economics.
“As a result, we suspect that the initial strong rebound will peter out in the second half of 2020 and that the Government and the Bank of England will need to do more.” Some of the gains were helped by the pound slipping due to fears over the UK’s trade deal with the EU. The next round of Brexit talks are set to begin on Monday.
Johnson set to reveal revival plan tor UK economy
Boris Johnson will on Tuesday announce plans to revive the British economy in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, the PM promises the UK will bounce back and that he will be “doubling down” on his pledge to level up the distribution of wealth across the country.
A special taskforce dubbed “Project Speed” has been set up to reduce the time it takes to deliver “high quality infrastructure”, Mr Johnson will say on Tuesday, with projects in the pipeline including new hospitals, prison places and schools.
Mr Johnson told the paper: “This has been a huge, huge shock to the country but we’re going to bounce back very well. We want to build our way back to health. If Covid was a lightning flash, we’re about to have the thunderclap of the economic consequences. We’re going to be ready.”
CBI: UK private-sector activity suffered record Q2 fall
British economic output suffered a record 20% fall in April, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), whose monthly growth indicator dropped to -71 in June from -63 in May, its lowest since the series began in 2003. “These figures show the full impact of coronavirus on the economy after three months of shutdown.
However, there are signs that we’ve hit rock bottom,” CBI economist Alpesh Paleja said. Separately, a quarterly survey from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) will this week show Britain suffered the biggest drop in economic activity since the report was first published 31 years ago.
The manufacturing and services sectors fell to record lows in Q2, underlining the severe impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
Firms call for fairer economy
Business and trade union leaders have called on the Government to deliver a “stronger, fairer and greener” economy in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
Organisations including the Federation of Small Businesses and leaders including Confederation of British Industry director-general Dame Carolyn Fairbairn and TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady have signed a petition setting out areas they want ministers to prioritise over the coming months and years, including improvements to public services, the creation of sustainable jobs and further investment in renewable energy sources.
Dame Carolyn comments: “The last few months have taken a heavy toll on the economy and it’s now more important than ever that the country finds a way through COVID-19 which priorities jobs and training.”
The future arrives early
Bhanu Baweja, chief strategist at UBS, believes the future is “arriving early” thanks to the coronavirus crisis and expects e-commerce, artificial intelligence, health tech, cloud computing and automation to all “take a quantum leap” as a result of COVID-19.
John Gathergood, professor of economics at the University of Nottingham, suggests: “Any jobs where you sit in front of a computer for 95% of the day is now a job that can be moved out of the city into the suburbs … Think about accountants, lawyers, health administration, head offices, the finance departments of any firm.”
Think-tank calls for job protection scheme
The Resolution Foundation says a broad job creation package is needed to prevent the worst unemployment crisis in Britain for a generation, urging ministers to subsidise wages of workers in the sectors hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis until at least the end of next year.
The think-tank says the coronavirus job retention scheme should be turned into a job protection scheme that would be kept in place throughout 2021.
Nye Cominetti, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Britain is slowly emerging from the lockdown that brought the economy to a halt and sent employment tumbling. But we are a long way off returning to business as usual, and its jobs crisis is far from over.”
Miliband in unemployment warning
Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband has warned of a jump in unemployment if the Government does not deliver support for jobs in businesses which have been shuttered during lockdown.
Mr Miliband says analysis suggests that up to a million people could fall into unemployment, adding to the 2.8m who are currently jobless.
He told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show he fears “Thatcher levels of unemployment” if sectors which cannot fully reopen, such as hospitality, do not receive continued help, saying: “You’ve got to have a bridge between the end of the furlough and a proper job creation programme.”
Labour urges action to prevent unemployment crisis
The Labour party is urging the Government to maintain support for businesses that cannot yet fully reopen amid fears of soaring unemployment when the furlough scheme comes to an end in November.
Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband said: “The scale of the economic emergency facing us is enormous. But the Government is pulling the rug from under businesses employing one million people by demanding they start bearing the cost of the furlough when they don’t even know when they can reopen”.
The Treasury’s furlough scheme is funding more than 8m workers at an estimated cost of a £14bn a month. From the end of July, the state will no longer pay for employers’ national insurance and pension contributions and the scheme is wound up altogether at the end of October.
In an interview with the Telegraph, Manpower’s UK managing director Mark Cahill agrees that support for certain businesses should be extended to avoid employment levels falling off a cliff.
Support grows for tax rises over austerity
A YouGov poll shows a reversal in public support for cutting back services to repair public finances, with 47% of respondents backing tax rises as a means to reduce the gap between government spending and what it raises in tax, up from 30% in December 2009. The poll saw 63% of people say they would support increased tax to fund the NHS, up from 48% in a 2014 poll.
Support for tackling the deficit mainly through spending cuts has fallen from 52% to 27%. This comes with Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis suggesting that borrowing could this year exceed £300bn.
VAT cut call
Ruth Sunderland in the Mail suggests Chancellor Rishi Sunak should heed the advice of predecessors Sajid Javid and Alistair Darling and cut VAT, saying it would be “a bold move and send a powerful signal from the Government that it wants people to shop for Britain”. She adds that VAT at 20% is too high and a “regressive tax, in that it hits the less well-off hardest”.
Testing times
Shaun Lintern in the Independent looks at Britain’s coronavirus testing, highlighting concerns voiced by public health directors over a lack of data being provided in regard to positive cases. Mr Lintern notes that the Lighthouse Labs, pillar two of the Government’s testing strategy, were set up in April under a project run by Deloitte.
City chiefs call for red tape cuts
City bosses have called on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to lower capital requirements, cut red tape and ease financial reporting requirements after the Brexit transition in an effort to boost to economy post-coronavirus. With the Treasury conducting a review designed to streamline and tailor financial services regulations once the Brexit transition expires in December, City minister John Glen has signalled changes to regulations but insists any new rules would maintain or enhance the strict standards that had helped the UK become a global financial hub. John Liver at EY said changes “represent an assertion of UK sovereignty… but do not presage a widespread abandonment of European standards, many of which the UK has played a major role in designing.” Andrew Gray at PwC says firms will want some rule changes but would only aim to make them in a way that protected equivalence.
City executives lead push to improve corporate governance in wake of virus
The Institute of Directors has asked a group of City of London executives to lead an independent body that will seek to ensure corporate governance is improved across British boardrooms.
Firms in green pledge
Some of Britain’s biggest businesses have committed to cut their carbon emissions to net zero by 2040, with Deloitte among almost 50 public and private companies making the pledge ahead of a meeting between ministers and business leaders to discuss how businesses can help protect the environment. Chairmen and chief executives from more than half the FTSE 100 are expected to attend an online meeting where issues will be discussed with Business Secretary Alok Sharma and George Eustice, the Environment Secretary.
China overtakes UK to become world’s fifth-largest fund hub
China has become the world’s fifth-largest fund domicile, overtaking the UK. China is the third largest asset management market, with Deloitte consultancy Casey Quirk predicting it will overtake the UK by 2021.
Sir Ronald Cohen: Don’t scrap Social Investment Tax Relief
The founder of buyout firm Apax Partners has said plans to scrap ¬Social Investment Tax Relief, which offers a 30% upfront tax relief to investors in charities and other social enterprises, makes “zero sense” at a time when Government budgets are constrained and disadvantaged areas of society are suffering from the aftermath of the coronavirus.
Sir Ronald Cohen, who now focuses on “impact investing”, called on ministers to instead raise the ceiling for the relief in line with the Enterprise Investment Scheme, which caps individual investments at £1m.
Sir Ronald added: “If you think about it, private investment is the only way to supplement government spending, creating jobs and dealing with social issues, environmental issues. It’s the only way, there’s no other money around, and the Government should already be boosting incentives, not eliminating existing ones.”
Major’s prediction of tax rises dismissed
Former Conservative prime minister Sir John Major told the BBC yesterday that taxes would have to rise to pay for greater state involvement in social care after the coronavirus pandemic. Although Sir John admitted it would be a mistake to put up taxes before the economy had recovered, his remarks were roundly criticised by fellow Conservatives. Lord Lamont of Lerwick warned that raising taxes in the short term would “snuff out the recovery – which may be slow and gradual” while Sir John Redwood added: “The idea of increasing taxes is the complete opposite of what we need. We need to raise people’s confidence, allow them to keep more of the money they earn and to get their businesses under way again.”
Will IHT be hiked to pay for virus rescue?
The Sunday Express wondered which taxes will be raised to help pay for the damage done by the coronavirus pandemic, with Blick Rothenberg partner Robert Pullen telling the paper that IHT could be the first to go up. Jonathan Scott, tax partner at Haines Watts points out that IHT was raised to 80% to help tackle public debt after WW2.
EY accused over Wirecard concerns
EY reportedly had concerns about German payments firm Wirecard’s accounting practices as early as 2016 but continued to sign off the company’s results. The Wall Street Journal says internal emails reveal the auditor questioned Wirecard’s financial arrangements, with concerns over trustee accounts in Singapore. EY has been unable to verify €1.9bn of the German company’s funds said to be held in trustee accounts, saying there appears to have been a “large-scale international fraud” at Wirecard, which has filed for insolvency.
Germany to overhaul accounting regulation
Germany is set to overhaul its accounting industry in the wake of issues which saw the collapse of payments fintech Wirecard, which filed for insolvency after auditor EY found a €1.9bn black hole in its accounts and a special audit by KPMG could not verify that €1bn on its books actually existed. The German government has announced plans to terminate its contract with the country’s accounting watchdog, the Financial Reporting Enforcement Panel, and is set to transfer power to investigate financial reporting to BaFin, the financial regulator. Germany’s deputy finance minister Jorg Kukies says the Wirecard affair shows “self-regulation by the auditors doesn’t work properly”.
EY faces €1bn legal action in Germany over Wirecard
The Sunday Times reported on the legal action taken against EY in Germany over its audits of payments company Wirecard, which has reported a €1.9bn hole in its accounts.
The paper says the firm has maintained a relatively clean reputation up until the UK accountancy watchdog, the Financial Reporting Council, began investigations into its work for NMC Health and Thomas Cook this year.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will also come under scrutiny after it emerged critics of Wirecard wrote to the regulator to raise the alarm in April 2019. The Sunday Telegraph says the debacle provides London with an opportunity to “bolster its position as Europe’s most vibrant and well-run financial technology centre,” but “the FCA and others must ensure that a Wirecard-style fraud never happens here.”
EY failed to ask for Wirecard bank statements for 3 years
For over three years, EY failed to obtain independent evidence that Singapore’s OCBC Bank held as much as €1bn in cash on behalf of Wirecard.
The German fintech filed for insolvency this week after revealing a €1.9bn hole in its accounts. EY’s German unit is being investigated by the country’s auditor oversight body APAS while an “out of country” team at EY is also conducting a review of the unit’s work.
Germany’s small shareholder lobby group SdK said on Friday that it had filed criminal complaints against EY auditors who signed Wirecard’s accounts between 2016 and 2018. Andreas Loetscher, who co-led EY’s audits into Wirecard between 2015 and 2017 before joining Deutsche Bank a year later as chief accounting officer is among those being sued.
The firm is already facing a class-action lawsuit in Germany brought by Wirecard investors. Soon after Wirecard filed for insolvency on Thursda y, EY accused their client of “an elaborate and sophisticated fraud”
FCA orders Wirecard’s UK operations to cease activities
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has ordered Wirecard’s UK subsidiary, Wirecard Card Solutions, to cease all regulated activities in order to protect customer funds. The move means customers of fintechs such as Pockit and Curve are unable to access their cash. Wirecard Card Solutions told the FT that it is taking steps to lift the suspension so business can resume as usual.
Fears for city centres if workers stay away
The Sunday Times considered the impact on town centre economies if office workers and civil servants are told to continue working from home until as late as summer next year despite the easing of the lockdown.
The paper noted a survey by KPMG which found 73% of its staff were happy to work from home until the end of the year. Separately, PwC said it hopes to have around 1,000 staff back in their offices, including in Leeds and Newcastle upon Tyne, from next Monday, rising to a “a more meaningful number” by September.
Cash Isas grow in popularity
HMRC figures show people earning £150,000 or more a year have as much as £84,530 stashed in Isas.
By contrast, savers earning less than £5,000 a year have just over £13,000.
Data for the year to April 2018 show savers earning £10,000-£19,999 have an average of just over £23,000 in their Isa, while people earning £30,000-£49,999 typically have about £29,000. Figures also show 450,000 people stopped saving into stocks and shares Isas between 2017-18 and 2018-19, while the use of cash Isas went up by 21%.
Sunny Loans on verge of administration
The payday lender Sunny Loans filed notice of intent to appoint administrators last week citing the economic uncertainty due to coronavirus as well as “continued regulatory pressure”. The company is owned by Texas-based Elevate Credit International
Six companies in ‘Project Birch’ rescue talks with Treasury
The Treasury is in talks with six companies as part of its programme to provide state aid to strategically important businesses. Celsa Steel UK, Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Steel are among them.
The pensioner perks under the spotlight
The Times’ David Byers looks at some of the perks enjoyed by pensioners which could be under threat as the Chancellor eyes ways to raise cash to pay for the coronavirus crisis. The triple lock on pensions has already been slated as a target but free bus passes and winter fuel payments could also be in the firing line, suggests Byers. Ian Browne at wealth manager Quilter says the expected double-digit rise in the cost of the state pension “looks untenable both in terms of its fiscal sustainability and intergenerational fairness.” The exemption for those over the state pension age to pay NI could also be halted, suggests Nimesh Shah from Blick Rothenberg while Chris Etherington from RSM points to the winter fuel payment as a “poorly targeted benefit” which should be taken away from higher and additional-rate taxpayers. Dividend allowances could also be adjusted to raise capital.
Marston’s boss calls for tax cuts
Marston’s CEO Ralph Findlay has urged the government to provide pubs with ongoing business rates relief and to defer beer duty to help companies pull through the pandemic. He also called for VAT to be cut from 20% to 5% to boost consumer spending. His plea came as the company reported £40m in lost revenues and half-year pre-tax profits down over 70%. The brewing and pub group said it would open about 85% of its pubs in England when restrictions are lifted. Those which fail to make enough sales will be closed.
Ireland’s reliance on foreign businesses a risk to state finances
Statistics published last week show ten companies paid a combined €4.4bn of Ireland’s €10.9bn in corporate tax receipts, or 7.5% of Ireland’s €59bn total tax take. Corporate tax receipts in Ireland have doubled since 2014, driven by the relocation of multinationals taking advantage of low tax rates. Revenue Commissioners estimate that 77% of Ireland’s corporate tax receipts were sourced from multinational firms; a dependence repeatedly described as risky by experts.
UK defers tax reporting deadline
The European Council announced earlier this week that states could push back the implementation of its DAC6 directive due to the pandemic. This gives companies and tax advisers an additional six months to prepare reports on cross-border tax arrangements. In the UK, HMRC said reports will now be due on Feb 28 2021.
Intu falls into administration
Intu Properties has collapsed into administration after the shopping centre owner failed to secure an agreement with its creditors. The company, which employs nearly 2,400 people and owns 17 shopping centres across the UK, failed to persuade lenders to grant a standstill on debt repayments before a Friday night deadline. KPMG was formally appointed on Friday to handle the administration of Intu as well as eight other subsidiary companies. Jim Tucker, a partner at KPMG and one of the joint administrators, said COVID-19 had exacerbated the problems facing retail, which were now feeding through to owners of retail property. Property analysts predict Intu, which has debts of over £4.5bn, will be broken up.
Next and M&S consider Victoria’s Secret bid
Marks & Spencer and Next are reportedly among companies interested in lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret after it fell into administration. The UK arm of Victoria’s Secret appointed administrator Deloitte earlier this month following a downturn in trading. Both retailers declined to comment, while Victoria’s Secret UK said it was still working with administrators at Deloitte to “review a range of possible outcomes”.
Coronavirus support for small businesses launched by Google
Google has launched a new campaign to help UK small businesses by making easier to find online. The company will also provide £25m worth of advertising credits and grants for small firms. Chancellor Rishi Sunak praised Google’s initiative and said the pandemic had been a “difficult time” for SMEs. “We will all play a part in this national effort to get the UK open for business again safely,” he said.
Key workers being targeted by pension transfer scammers
APJ Solicitors has said that there has been an uptick in the number of key workers being targeted by scammers to transfer their pensions into high-risk self-invested personal pensions. The law firm said that it has been contacted by an increased number of NHS staff and other key workers who have been convinced to transfer their pensions and lose thousands of pounds in the process.
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
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