Business news 05 July 2023
James Salmon, Operations Director.
78% of SME’s in profit despite late payments. The NHS, water bills, banking woes, climate and more business news that we thought would interest our members.
78% of SME’s in profit despite late payments.
- 78% of small business are in profit despite late payment affecting 81%
- 5% said late payments were affecting them significantly
- 7% of small business owners have had to take a pay cut
- 1% of small businesses are close to insolvency
81% of small businesses are reporting problems with late payments but 78% are still able to remain profitable, demonstrating the strength of the UK entrepreneurial spirit. With 7% of Small business owners taking a personal pay cut as they face rising costs and a tighter cash flow due to inflation, rising interest rates and high staff pay demands according to a survey of 400 business owners conducted by Maru/hub.
If you are struggling with late payments, talk to CPA today!
The NHS turns 75
As the NHS turns 75, it is facing a crisis as costs rise, staffing vacancies rise, morale falls, strikes increase and waiting lists stretch further out as the service struggles to recover from covid, and the increase in other long term conditions that come with rising life expectancy. The government published a 15-year plan last week to recruit and retain health workers. But evidence suggests its going to take a lot more, including increasing levels of cash. Still the NHS ranks among the most beloved of British institutions with a recent poll saying most Britons beleive it makes them proud to be British.
Water bills
Offwat has said that water bills are set to rise significantly yo match the costs of rising infrastructure needs. The news comes just after reports that water companies are struggling under huge debt obligations and rising interest rates. Offwat also accepted it should never have allowed water companies to take on so much debt.
5 Year Mortgage Rate Breaches 6%
UK mortgage costs have jumped to fresh highs for the year as rising interest rates continue to wreak havoc on households and prospective homeowners. The average five-year fixed-rate home loan rose to 6.01% on Tuesday, edging closer to the 14-year peak reached at the end of 2022, according to Moneyfacts Group Plc.
Banking woes
The FCA summoned bank CEOs to inquire why savings rates are lagging so far behind surging mortgage costs and base rates. Top bankers including from HSBC and Barclays are set to attend a meeting at the FCA on Thursday amid accusations they are profiteering from rising rates.
Separately, the government ordered the FCA to review how lenders offer services to politicians, after former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said last week he was unable to access banking services, although Coutts are reported to have claimed it was not political but due to their funding requirements which requires customers to hold at least £3m in savings, or borrow or invest at least £1m with the bank and that he had been offered an account at Natwest, Coutts, owner.
Farage told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme: “I have been with them for a decade and at the moment I have more money sitting on current account than I have had for most of that time.” Farage said NatWest only offered him a standard account after he went public with his complaints last Thursday, and claimed his status as a political figure was still the cause. “Some time ago I was informed both business and personal accounts would be closed by Coutts, without an offer of any NatWest facilities, and with no reason given,” Farage said. “When I went public with the story on Thursday, they said a personal account, but not business, could be offered on thresholds.
Financial pressure puts councils at risk of insolvency
The Local Government Association (LGA) has warned that councils could be at risk of insolvency over the coming months as local authorities in England struggle to fill a £3bn funding black hole. Pointing to inflationary costs and soaring demand for services, the LGA said the cost of providing current levels of council services over the next few months is set to exceed existing available funding by at least £2bn, and by nearly £1bn next year. Pete Marland, the chair of the LGA’s resources board, said that while recent council insolvencies were characterised by governance failures, even well-run councils were “at risk of coming to the end of the road” financially. With some councils only able to sign off 2022/23’s books by drawing down one-off lump sums from reserves, Mr Marland warned: “We are in an endgame where, unless something changes in the medium- to long-term funding settlement, we start to see more and more councils taking more drastic action.”
Five restaurants a day are shutting down
Analysis by Price Bailey shows that restaurants closed at their highest rate in a decade in the first three months of the year. A total of 569 restaurant businesses filed for insolvency in Q1, an average of 5.6 per day. The Q1 data means that over the last 12 months, 2,028 restaurants have closed. The report notes that 1,303 restaurants were forced to close in 2021, an average of 3.1 per day. Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said the figures show “an alarming increase” in closures and “clearly demonstrate the challenges faced by hospitality businesses big and small, all across the UK.” She pointed to the impact of 80% year-on-year increases in energy costs and food price inflation of 22%, adding that rising interest rates are “compounding the pressure” on businesses that have had to take out loans in order to survive. Despite the growing number of insolvencies, a third of British restaurants are seeing increased turnover, up from 16% six months ago.
Le Pain Quotidien
Le Pain Quotidien UK Arm Falls Into Insolvency. Most Cafes Close.
Energy analysts expect price cap to hold steady over winter
Energy specialist Cornwall Insight expects the price cap to fall from its current rate of £2,074 per year to £1,878 per year in October. However, it then expects the cap to remain close to this level for the following two quarterly updates before falling in July. The price cap has fallen sharply from the record £4,279 seem in January but remains significantly above the £1,000-£1,200 average seen before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which caused wholesale prices to spike to record highs and prompted instability across the energy market.
Foodflation
UK grocer Sainsbury says food inflation Is starting to drop
UK the only G7 nation where inflation is rising
Analysis shows that Britain is now the only wealthy country where inflation is rising, with data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showing that the rate of price increases across G7 nations fell to 4.6% in May, from 5.4% in April. The UK was the only G7 country to register an increase, with inflation climbing from 7.8% to 7.9%. The OECD’s measure differs from the UK’s official consumer prices index as it includes owner occupier’s housing costs. The report also shows that price growth slowed in all 38 OECD nations apart from the UK, Norway and the Netherlands
Climate
The US meteorological agency said that the global average temperature on Monday reached 17°C, a record high since satellite monitoring began in 1979. The previous record was 16.9°C, recorded in August 2016. The weather pattern El Nino should mean the record will be broken again this summer.
Takeover activity set to flatline
Analysts at investment bank Peel Hunt expect takeover activity in the UK to flatline in the second half of the year. While they said dealmaking had “rebounded to an extent” in the first half of 2023, with private equity’s interest in listed firms having returned, the experts noted that this was “not with the conviction that many anticipated.” The report shows that £12bn worth of deals were tabled by buyers in the six months to the end of June. This marks a 45% decline on H2 2022. Michael Nicholson, Peel Hunt’s head of M&A, said expectations of a “material acceleration” in Q3 have softened, with pessimism over the UK economy keeping demand flat. Elsewhere, data from LSEG Deals Intelligence shows that globally, M&A deals worth $1.3trn have been agreed in 2023 so far, a 38% dip on the same period in 2022. M&A deals with any UK involvement, including both public and private firms, totalled $111.8bn in the period, with this down 51% on last year.
Stealth tax raid to hit 1.5m more workers
The Centre for Economics and Business Research think-tank (CEBR) has warned that the cost of the Government’s stealth tax raid has been underestimated, saying 1.5m more people will be pulled into higher tax brackets than the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has predicted. Next year 4.2m people will become basic rate taxpayers because of the freeze on tax thresholds, according to the CEBR, while 2.6m will be dragged into the higher rate band. In March, the OBR estimated that freezing tax thresholds until 2027/28 would lead to 3.3m people becoming basic rate taxpayers in 2024/25, with a further 2m entering the higher rate 40% bracket.
However, these projections were based on more conservative inflation forecasts. The CEBR estimates the Government will raise £25.9bn from the freeze next year, exceeding the OBR’s forecast of £21.9bn.
Pushpin Singh of the CEBR said: “The OBR projected average inflation of 0.9% in 2024, which significantly differed from our own estimate of 3.3% at that time. However, in light of recent developments, we have revised our estimate to 3.8%.” He added that “stickier inflation is likely to translate into heightened wage growth in the short term, resulting in an increased number of individuals being pushed into higher tax brackets.” Conor Holohan of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Stealth taxes are chewing up the income of more Brits than previously thought, and are contributing to a fall in living standards.” He has urged ministers to “give household budgets a break and raise thresholds in line with inflation.”
Latest Insolvencies
Appointment of Administrator – OXFORD CONTENT AND COMMUNICATIONS LTD
Appointment of Administrator – BRUNCHCO UK LIMITED
Appointment of Administrator – THOMAS DORNAN (PRINTERS) LIMITED
Appointment of Administrator – BETACAP LIMITED
Appointment of Administrator – AFFORDABLE FITNESS LIMITED
Appointment of Administrator – PALL MALL OFFICES LTD
Appointment of Administrator – INTERGUIDE IOW LIMITED
Appointment of Administrator – PACKITSAFE LIMITED
Appointment of Administrator – TIME GB STOCK LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – SJN FINANCIAL LTD
Appointment of Liquidators – ABITO LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – HYPERION SOFTWARE LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – SQUARE DATA LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – CLANFIELD HOLDINGS LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – YEALM INVESTMENTS LTD
Appointment of Liquidators – CHESTER B1 ISSUER PLC
Appointment of Liquidators – CITY AUDIO VISUAL LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – LEEDAMOREY LTD
Appointment of Liquidators – RIVAS SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – LOCAL CRESCENT NO2 LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – PROJECT FARM BIDCO 2016 LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – EASTERN INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – INVESTFIELD LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – D.G. BARBER LTD
Appointment of Liquidators – PROPERTY (DONE) LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – CARISBROOKE VETS LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – SHABA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – SAL CONSULTING LTD
Appointment of Liquidators – FAMILY WEALTH PRESERVATION LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – AVIECO LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – ST JAMES SPACES (UK) LTD
Appointment of Liquidators – C. & I. INVESTMENTS LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – CARSAZ LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – PATELMILLER CONSULTANCY LTD
Appointment of Liquidators – SOLATECH SYSTEMS LTD
Petitions to wind up (Companies) – PI MEDIA LIMITED
Petitions to wind up (Companies) – PROJECT AIR CONDITIONING LTD
Appointment of Liquidators – FINA LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – MERLIN MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – THE DIALECT AGENCY LTD
Appointment of Liquidators – PYE PROJECTS LTD
Appointment of Liquidators – TIPPLESWORTH LIMITED
Appointment of Liquidators – MICHAEL BLACK (PERSONAL MANAGEMENT) LIMITED
Appointment of Administrator – SLACK & PARR LIMITED
Appointment of Administrator – SLACK & PARR (INVESTMENTS) LIMITED
Why should you become a CPA member!
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 some time to come.
CPA eases cash from tardy debtors – Efficiently, Effectively, Economically and Ethically. And we provide credit information so you can monitor and assess your key customers.
Unlike other credit management companies, we offer our members a fixed annual subscription regardless of how high the debt value maybe!
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.
The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections
Do you have a commercial late payer that is causing you grief? Use CPA’s no-win, no-fee, commercial debt recovery service!
If you have a particular business customer who is late paying and causing you sleepless nights, why not offer it to CPA for purchase on recourse?
CPA’s collection department will then pursue the debt. We will be liable for any costs incurred and then when we have recovered the debt, we will pay you the net principle debt recovered less our percentage.
Once you have enjoyed that success then you can consider the more cost effective membership which includes our Overdue Account Recovery service and Status/Credit reports as well as a range of other complimentary services.
Just call 020 8846 0000 and ask for Godfrey Nelson or Cris Shirley (business hours) or email debtpurchase@cpa.co.uk today.
The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections.
Get compensated for previous late payments
Have you been paid late by business customers in the last six years?
Maybe you no longer work with them. Under legislation, you are entitled to compensation you for those late payments you have suffered.
You put up with the PAIN – now claim the GAIN!
Claim late payment compensation (LPC) from former business customers who paid you late in the last six years!
CPA (LPC) Recoveries is using our bespoke software and decades of experience to do just that for our clients
Check our compensation calculator to see how much your business could be owed!
Discover NOW the potential value of late payment compensation hidden in your sales ledger!
The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections.