New figures released today reveal that the UK business failure rate, which has been seeing an upward trend since 2007, fell in August to its lowest level since September 2008.

The Insolvency and Distress Index from information services firm Experian, reveal that 0.09% of UK businesses failed during August this year, a slight increase on the 0.08% recorded in August 2008. However, this figure is still lower than the 0.11% recorded in July, and the lowest rate so far this year.

According to the report, the total number of business insolvencies during August 2009 increased by 11.3%, compared to August 2008. … Continue Reading

The National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) has released the results of its latest annual survey of its members.

NACFB member brokers act as intermediaries to the SME community, arranging finance for small businesses for premises, equipment, vehicles and to help cash flow.

The report reveals that total funding to SMEs via brokers has fallen by nearly 60% year on year, while buy-to-let business reports a staggering 88% drop.

Meanwhile, equipment finance to SMEs has fallen by 10% and vehicle finance has dropped by 30%. Some members have reported drops in business by as much as 85% year on year

Chief … Continue Reading

The latest figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have revealed that the unemployment rate for countries which fall under its remit was 8.5% in July 2009, the same as the previous month but 2.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

In the Euro area, the unemployment rate was 9.5% in July 2009, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month and 2.0 percentage points higher than in July 2008. For the United States, the unemployment rate for August 2009 was 9.7%, 0.3 percentage point higher than the previous month and 3.5 percentage points higher than a … Continue Reading

Last week, the FTSE 100 reached the 5,000 point mark for the first time this year. Now, Richard Moore, manager of the Santander UK growth fund at Santander Asset Management UK, gives his thoughts on what this means for the market:

“The rise to 5000 on the FTSE100 means that the market has rallied in excess of 40 per cent since the low point reached in early March 2009. Economic growth across the world has been picking up in response to unprecedented levels of Central Bank stimulus and looking ahead there are two reasons for investors to remain hopeful that the … Continue Reading

The majority of the UK’s SMEs are bullish about their prospects in ‘the worst recession in living memory’, according to new research from business insurance provider Hiscox.

More than half (54%) of UK SMEs report that they are confident their business will survive the downturn and almost half (48%) claim that they have taken no additional measures to ride out the downturn.

Among those who have taking action to survive the downturn, almost nine out of ten (88%) reported that they have not enforced salary cuts, while 87% have continued with bonus payments. Furthermore, more than four in five (85%) have … Continue Reading

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2nd Offshore Tax Amnesty Announced
If you live in the UK you should declare on your UK tax return all of the interest you receive … Continue Reading