According to the FSB Small Business Index (Q3 of 2017), there was a sharp decline in successful credit applications, with only 63% securing external finance. However, the report found that only 12% of businesses surveyed applied at all, suggesting a significant proportion of SMEs are staying away from external finance altogether. A lack of cash flow within the small business community results in less investment in growth, fewer job opportunities and fewer businesses making the transition from small to medium-sized. So why are small businesses so wary of using external funds to support their development?
Finance News
We can provide your business with an unsecured loan for any purpose. Whether you’re looking for a short term VAT or Corporation Tax Loan, or a longer-term cash injection for your business, we have a solution that doesn’t affect your banking facilities and helps you keep your cash during these challenging times. What’s more, the funds can be available to you in just 24 hours.
And so it goes – after 43 years, Britain will be leaving the European Union, and after six years in the top spot, David Cameron will step down as Prime Minister. Whilst some are pleased with the result and feeling optimistic about the future, others are as disgruntled as the MEPS in European Parliament yesterday after Nigel Farage told them, “virtually none of you have ever done a proper job in your lives.”
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the abundance of fact and opinion flying around, you’re not alone. But what we’re struggling to gauge is – what happens now?
Happy #NationalFishandChipDay from all of us at Johnson Reed!
Join us in celebrating one of our most popular specialist sectors! After 20 years facilitating finance in the fish and chip shop industry, hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of equipment leased and hundreds of happy customers, we thought we’d celebrate with key players in the industry and take a day to appreciate the nation’s favourite dish.
Good morning, and welcome to the first of a new series of summaries written by the Johnson Reed staff focused on providing a summary and key news on the leasing finance industry in the UK. We’ll be publishing these on a (currently) ad-hoc basis when we have substantially interesting news to provide to our readers about the state of leasing, new innovations and regulations, and any finance news which affects the majority of our customers.
The Recent release of the Chancellor’s budget for 2016 has us thinking about the impact on small businesses for the coming year. With features such as Business rates, Corporation tax, Capital Gains Tax, Fuel Duty, and Stamp Duty, this no doubt is going to interest and engage the future of small business.
The change to business rates will increase the threshold for claiming small business relief from £6,000 to £15,000 from April 2017. This would indicate that an estimated 600,000 small firms would not have to pay business rate, and then that a further 25,000 will only need to pay reduced rates as of April 2017. Along with the main rate of Corporation tax being reduced to 17% from the current 20% as of 1 April 2020, this is surely good news for SMEs.
Last week saw the annual Finance & Leasing Association’s Dinner hosted at Grosvenor House, and hosted by guests John Hymphrys and Gabby Logan.
The annual dinner is always a favourite of the finance and leasing industries, and gathers together members and non-members to celebrate the industry’s progress and successes from the year. There were over 100 companies represented, and guest speakers Robert Peston and Adam Hills kept the group informed and entertained!
Without a doubt, the catering equipment market is booming. With an expected turnover of £1.1 billion this year, the upsurge in new equipment has fuelled growth in both suppliers and manufacturers alike, and the marketplace shows no sign of slowing. However despite this growth, businesses are facing ever-increasing challenges to meet the financial demands of buying new equipment, with many failing to afford to do so. Despite the advantages that new equipment can bring – such as higher quality food, lower waiting times, increased capacity, and ultimately a higher return – it’s often difficult to afford such a huge outlay when the average kitchen can range from £1,000 up to £250,000.
Educating businesses and SMEs in alternative ways of financing can be difficult. For many people, the mindset of getting finance is either a negative one – inevitably it will lead them into debt which they cannot afford – or that bank lending is the only option. Neither of these are true, and equipment financing is often a much better alternative to bank lending for its flexibility, amounts available, and repayment schedule.
On the 8th July, Chancellor George Osborne gave his 7th budget, and his first as part of the majority Conservative government.
In this budget we saw a large number of shakeups, not least in the economy and business portions, as well as in personal tax & pay, and the ongoing battle with our national deficit.