News Centre

A campaign group is calling for lenders to publish APRs in connection with their business loans. The Campaign for Regulation of Asset Based Finance has written to a number of major banks and is campaigning for APRs to be mandatory. A spokesman said that this would bring much needed clarity to the true price of asset-based finance and help clients compare the costs of different financial products.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has launched a new service aimed at helping small business owners to identify suitable and cost-effective energy tariffs for their businesses.

Many SMEs are facing potentially crippling waits for payments. A new study by Tungsten Network has found that just over one in ten (12%) of small and medium-sized businesses regularly have to wait for 90 days or more under their customers’ payment terms. 3% of SMEs are forced to wait for four months or 120 days.

The new National Living Wage (NLW) will come into effect starting on April 1 2016. With just four months left before the changes, the Government is warning businesses to prepare for the introduction. Tasks to take care of include ascertaining which staff, if any, will be affected by the changes, communicating the changes to staff and updating the payroll.

Greg Mulholland, Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West, has tabled an early day motion calling for a review of changes that would make it more difficult for insolvency practitioners to secure returns for creditors from fraudulent directors.