11/03/2013
With lending to businesses found to have fallen again during the final quarter of 2012 and evidence suggesting that more and more businesses are ditching traditional bank lending in favour of more targeted cash flow solutions, what steps are you taking?
04/03/2013
With GDP constantly fluctuating, but showing only miniscule changes, and following the Office for National Statistics’ recent revision of the GDP growth of 2012 from 0% to 0.2%, we’d like to know: How important are these figures in reality?
When the figures are announced, do you care? Do they affect your business decision making? Do they reflect your current situation? Are the calculations outdated? Or do you look forward to seeing them and think it’s important to know?
26/02/2013
The growing number of zombie businesses in the UK continues to hold back the economy and threaten the financial security of others, sparking widespread debate as to the best way to cure this epidemic. Should the banks’ policy of forbearance continue, or has the time come for an environment of ‘survival of the fittest’ to prevail?
25/02/2013
Back when it was launched in 2009, the Enterprise Finance Guarantee was being heralded as a funding lifeline for UK businesses. But after an encouraging start, the value of funding provided through the initiative has fallen by 67% since peaking in Q3 2009.
This has prompted Business Minister, Michael Fallon, to promise he will “hold banks to account” until lending under the scheme improves.
13/02/2013
The new tax year will see HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) embark on a new tax collection system that UK businesses must be prepared for.
Referred to as Real Time Information, or RTI, businesses will be required to report PAYE information, including employees’ salary, tax and National Insurance contributions, to HMRC every time an employee is paid in the form of a Full Payment Submission (FPS). But is your business ready?
11/02/2013
Much has been made of the way the vast challenges on businesses’ cash flows change depending on the company’s size. Access to funding, late payment and a fall in new business orders have all affected businesses, and some more than others.
Hilton-Baird’s most recent SME Trends Index looked closely at how different sized businesses were coping with the impact of the downturn.
23/01/2013
2012 proved to be an extremely challenging year for UK businesses. Our SME Trends Index questioned more than 400 business owners and finance directors in October 2012, with the findings supplying valuable insight into the areas firms were struggling the most.
This infographic provides a snapshot of the biggest challenges facing businesses, and how they sought to overcome them. How do they compare with your experiences?
14/12/2012
Two-thirds of the UK’s businesses didn’t secure any new financing in the six months to October 2012, according to a recent survey from Hilton-Baird Financial Solutions.
Now in its third year, the biannual SME Trends Index questioned 415 business owners and finance directors during October on their company’s performance, expectations and funding habits, and found that only 34% secured new funding in the preceding six months.
05/12/2012
The Chancellor has announced a range of measures designed to assist businesses amid the ongoing economic challenges as projections for the future took a turn for the worse.
In the annual Autumn Statement, delivered to the House of Commons earlier today, George Osborne revealed that the planned 3p rise in fuel duty has been cancelled. He also announced that Corporation Tax, which currently stands at 24%, will be slashed to 21% in April 2014 following the 1% reduction already planned for next year.
21/11/2012
Halloween might be behind us but there is no shortage of horror stories in the media surrounding the sustained cash flow pressures on businesses. So much so that the problem of ‘zombie’ businesses continues to intensify, posing a very real threat to the financial security of others in the current climate.