Business news 27 October 2023
James Salmon, Operations Director.
Blandford venture to offer SMEs funding support. Public’s inflation expectations ease. Councils told not to adopt four-day working weeks. Tax cuts, AI, Heathrow, Natwest Amazon & more business news that we thought would interest our members.
Blandford venture to offer SMEs funding support
Mark Blandford, founder of online gambling firm Sportingbet, has launched Multifi, a new venture targeting UK SMEs. Multifi has secured £10m in credit from investment firm Fasanara to provide up to £200,000 in credit to customers. The aim is to simplify access to finance for growing companies, which often face challenges when seeking funding. Multifi joins a growing number of firms focused on SMEs, reflecting the perceived failure of high street lenders to cater to the sector. With SMEs making up 99% of all UK companies and employing over 16m people, there are concerns about their ability to access funding.
Public’s inflation expectations ease
A poll for Citi shows that Britons expect inflation to have fallen to 4.2% in 12 months’ time, with September’s prediction down from the 4.4% recorded in August. On where inflation will be in five to 10 years, September’s poll saw a stable forecast of 3.3%. Citi economist Benjamin Nabarro said the figures “continue to show UK inflation expectations to be relatively well-anchored.” He added that the figures are likely to “ease in the months ahead as headline inflation falls back.”
Councils told not to adopt four-day working weeks
Ministers have formally warned councils in England against adopting four-day working weeks for staff, with Government guidance saying local authorities that have adopted the work pattern should end the practice immediately. While supporters of the four-day week argue that it improves staff wellbeing and productivity, the Government believes that it does not represent value for money and is concerned service quality will decline. Lee Rowley, the Minister for Local Government, warned that councils which opt to disregard this guidance “are now on notice” that ministers “will take necessary steps” to ensure that this practice is ended within local government. Noting that more than nine in 10 councils are experiencing staff recruitment and retention difficulties, Pete Marland, chair of the Local Government Association’s resources board, said: “It is councils who know what works best for their community, workforce and in their wider labour market conditions.”
PM confident over cutting taxes
Rishi Sunak says he is “confident” he will be able to cut taxes before the next election, with the Prime Minister saying he wants to ease the cost-of-living burden. However, he insisted he must first lower inflation, currently at 6.7%, to meet his 5.3% target. Mr Sunak said: “I’ve always been clear that of course I want to cut people’s taxes — I’m a Conservative , I believe in doing that.” He added: “The biggest tax cut we can deliver for the country is to halve inflation because it’s inflation that makes people poorer, pushes up the prices of things, eats into your savings.” On the possibility of cuts, Tory MP Marcus Fysh said: “I would like to see some tax cuts sooner rather than later. It’s essential we lay out that aspirational Conservative value of wanting to be rewarded for hard work and we need to show we’re on people’s side by letting them keep more of their money.”
AI
The Prime minister gave a speech yesterday outlining both the potential benefits but also the risks posed by Artificial Intelligence, warning World leaders to hold back from regulating until it was fully understood. He announced plans for the Worlds first AI safety Institute which we examine and test AI to measure its potential risks and benefits. The PM is hosting a global summit at Bletchley Park next week.
Heathrow
Heathrow Airport said it will handle more passengers this year than previously expected after another summer of recovery in the travel market from the pandemic. The airport saw losses shrink for the first nine months of 2023 as a result. It expects to see 79.3 million passengers use the site this year, ahead of previous predictions of between 70 million and 78 million.
Amazon
Amazon announced solid sales and profit growth in the last quarter. It also signaled that its cloud division was regaining momentum, although its web services was just below expectations. The company’s 3Q earnings per share came in at $0.94, a more than three-fold increase from a year earlier and much better than the $0.58 analyst consensus estimate. Shares rose 5% to $126 in post market deals.
Natwest
NatWest saw its net interest margin fall in the third quarter as more customers moved funds to savings accounts to benefit from higher interest rates. NatWest said it expects full-year NIM to still greater than 3%, compared to the 3.11% reported year-to-date. In the third quarter, total income rose to £3.49 billion from £3.23 billion a year ago with attributable profit of £866 million, up from £187 million and a return on tangible equity of 14.7%.
Wilko
Wilko may return to the high street after the Range who bought the brand and the website announced plans for 5 stores and sell Wilko products across its 200 existing stores.
International Consolidated Airlines
International Consolidated Airlines enjoyed a 43% increase in operating profit to €1.7 billion in what was its best-ever third quarter, helped by improved demand and lower costs. The airline said bookings for the fourth quarter are in line with expectations, meaning there is no change in full-year guidance.
Oil
Oil Prices rose by over $1 on Friday as reports that the US military struck Iranian targets in Syria raised concerns of a widening of the Israel-Hamas conflict that could impact supply from the key Middle East producing region
ECB ends rate hikes
The European Central Bank (ECB) has kept benchmark interest rates in the eurozone in a range of 4% and 4.75%, holding the rates steady after ten consecutive hikes. In a statement, the ECB said its key interest rates “are at levels that, maintained for a sufficiently long duration, will make a substantial contribution” to returning inflation to the 2% target. It added that inflation is “still expected to stay too high for too long, and domestic price pressures remain strong,” but noted that inflation “dropped markedly” in September and that “most measures of underlying inflation have continued to ease.” Inflation in the eurozone came in at 4.3% in September, down from 5.2% in August.
US economy grows at fastest pace since Q4 2021
The US economy grew by 4.9%, year-on-year, in the third quarter, with higher wages driving consumer spending. The Q3 reading was up from the 2.1% posted in Q2 and marks the biggest rise since the closing quarter of 2021. The growth recorded in Q3 exceeded analyst expectations, with GDP predicted to have risen by 4.5%.
The US Bureau of Economic Analysis said the increase reflects “accelerations in consumer spending, private inventory investment, and federal government spending” among other factors. “The US economy continued to show remarkable resilience over the summer with surprisingly robust job growth and an unexpected consumer spending spree,” said EY economist Gregory Daco.
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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!
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.