The UK’s relationship with the EU has come under increasingly scrutiny since the start of the financial crisis, with the likelihood of an upcoming referendum growing each year. However, despite the EU’s floundering economy, a recent poll has shown that UK manufacturers would vote to remain a part of the European bloc. Continue reading
A government grant worth up to £3,000 is available to businesses in 22 cities across the UK. The grant helps businesses experience the benefits of faster broadband speeds and better connectivity, and it is hoped that it will attract further business investment to the UK. Continue reading
The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has admitted that the Government’s Funding for Lending scheme is not working – as net lending to SMEs fell in the first two quarters of this year.
The scheme was designed to encourage lenders to provide more credit to smaller businesses, but recently the number of bank’s providing these loans has plummeted.
It was recently revealed that during the first quarter of 2014 lending fell by £723m, which was followed by a further £435m drop in the second quarter.
Speaking during an event for the British Business Bank, which was reported in the Times, the Business Secretary said that the bank restriction of credit to SMEs “persisted to this day” with more and more money being taken away from SME lending.
Mr Cable said: “Ever since I got into government I’ve been having conversations with George Osborne about how we get small business lending going.
“Our initial instincts were, we have these big banks who have been rescued by the state, why on earth don’t they do it? For a variety of reasons, it never happened.
“They were left at an arms’ length basis, there was difficulty with the private majority shareholders of RBS and the Treasury didn’t want to go down that road, they were interested in preparing them for privatisation, so that route didn’t work.”
Cable also blamed banks for giving business owners a “bad deal” saying that SMEs were being forced to take matters into their own hands.
Banks have recently been forced by government to ask SMEs if they would like their information shared with alternative lenders should the business be rejected for a bank loan.
This was followed in August by the George Osborne encouraging SMEs to seek financing from crowd-funders, peer-to-peer lenders and invoice financiers.
From 6 October HMRC will begin issuing automated PAYE real-time transaction (RTI) penalties to companies sending late RTI reports. Continue reading
The Chief Executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales, Michael Izza, has warned the shadow business secretary not to place additional burdens on business in the wake of last week’s referendum.Continue reading
A report from the property industry is set to demand that one million small firms should be exempt from business rates, a move intended to provide much needed support to small firms struggling under the demise of Britain’s ailing high street.Continue reading
New figures show that the number of UK jobless has fallen to its lowest level since 2008. The figures mark yet another milestone to the end of a year-on-year rise in unemployment since the start of the recession. Continue reading
A global leading think-tank has said that Britain’s economy is pulling away from the rest of the developed world, based on the strength of its recovery from the global recession.Continue reading
The issues presenting today’s (18 September) referendum have proven to be multifarious from the onset, with business leaders and politicians alike concerned about the implications of an independent Scotland for the economy. Continue reading
The mayor of Bristol, George Ferguson, has called on the government to give cities greater powers to determine their own taxes, as the referendum on Scottish Independence begins.Continue reading
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