Hundreds of thousands of British SMEs have been turned down for property finance in the past five years, a new study has revealed. Nearly a quarter of small and medium-sized companies said they had struggled to find the funds to move or expand – with inflexible lenders and a shortage of suitable property proving the […]
One of Australia’s leading funders of SMEs has warned that small businesses might face unintended consequences from the efforts to shut unfair supply chain finance programmes. After recent media attention and pressure from the office of the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, some of Australia’s largest companies are moving away from their early […]
Lloyds Banking Group has today announced that it has allocated up to £2bn of arrangement fee free finance assigned to specifically support Britain’s small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to ensure that they have access to additional finance to overcome any impact COVID-19 causes to their cashflow. Relationship managers from Lloyds Banking Group speak to […]
There is a 43% gender pay gap among the self-employed, research by IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) has found. This is significantly higher than the 17% among employees. Unlike employees, the self-employed gender pay gap is not driven by employers undervaluing women. Instead, it is likely to be driven by self-employed […]
UK SMEs are calling on the Government to tackle issues around business rates, late payments and the rollout of 5G in this week’s Spring Budget, according to research from Nucleus Commercial Finance. In a survey of small business owners, which asked them about their views on predicted policy changes that may be included in the […]
As the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak begins to directly impact more businesses, NatWest has outlined the initial support it will provide to SMEs across the UK, including a £5bn Working Capital Support extension to its successful Growth Funding Package, ongoing support and practical advice for businesses. NatWest is the largest supporter of UK businesses […]
365 Business Finance, a direct financial provider working with small to medium sized companies, is marking this year’s International Women’s Day by launching the #SheLeads campaign – to run throughout the month of March – which follows successful and motivational business women. Coinciding with this celebration of female business owners, the London-based lender reveals it […]
The average SME is waiting 56 days to be paid – almost double what Ombudsman Kate Carnell is seeking big business to commit to – and it is smaller businesses who are most impacted. Independent research conducted by market analysts East & Partners on behalf of national SME funder Scottish Pacific found a huge disparity […]
Freelancers and the self-employed are being “left behind” in government Coronavirus (COVID-19) planning, IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) has warned. The Association raised the problem that while employees can be guaranteed sick pay when they self-isolate or if their office closes, freelancers and the self-employed do not have the same security […]
New research by Barclaycard has revealed UK SMEs have indicated their determination to succeed in 2020, and to build on their strong finish to 2019, when the total volume of merchant transactions was up 5.1% year-on-year. The research comes as the first anniversary of our dedicated £14bn SME lending fund launch approaches. This fund is […]
