Think tanks warn Sunak not to hurt UK’s ‘tax competitiveness’ October 14, 2020 Free-market think tanks have warned the government not to raise taxes on companies and dividends to try to mend the hole in the public finances, arguing that it would be an act of “self-sabotage”. The UK budget deficit is set to hit £350bn this year, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank said yesterday. [...]
More than a fifth of small businesses expecting ‘much worse’ performance in 2020 July 27, 2020 More than a fifth of the UK’s small businesses expect their performance to be “much worse” over the next three months, after an unprecedented wave of job losses dampened their prospects. Hiring activity, profits and exports across small firms hit an all-time low in the second quarter, with 23 per cent of businesses having cut [...]
Natwest returns to profit as virus loan charges fall October 30, 2020 Natwest returned to profit during the third quarter, reporting forecast-beating earnings after setting aside a smaller-than-expected sum to deal with bad loans due to the coronavirus pandemic. Natwest posted an operating profit before tax of £355m for the three months to September on an income of £1.9bn. The figure beat the bank-compiled analyst estimates of [...]
CEO: ‘Incredible year’ for £88bn Covid loan bank as it helped 1.6m businesses to bounce back September 22, 2021 The taxpayer-owned bank that helped funnel billions of pounds worth of loans to British companies said it went through a “gigantic shift” during the pandemic year, the chief of the British Business Bank said this morning. Catherine Lewis La Torre said this morning that the BBB, which she leads, had an “important role” in the [...]
UK banks lend £15bn through coronavirus loan schemes May 12, 2020 The chancellor Rishi Sunak today said the UK banking and finance industry has provided almost £15bn to almost 304,000 businesses through three government-backed coronavirus loan schemes. In the week since the bounce back loan scheme (BBLS) launched, £8.4bn has been approved to 268,173 businesses – an average of 38,000 loans a day. Lenders have provided [...]
Coronavirus small business loan lending tops £4.1bn but concerns remain over scheme April 30, 2020 Coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) lending has topped £4.1bn, according to bank industry body UK Finance. Over £1.33bn of loans were approved in the week to 28 April. The number of loans provided through the scheme has increased by 8,638 over the same period to a total of 25,262, an increase of over 50 [...]
Barclays receiving 35 applications a minute for bounce back loans May 4, 2020 Barclays has received 35 loan applications per minute this morning for the newly launched bounce bank loan scheme, according to the bank’s UK boss. Barclays Bank UK chief executive Matt Hammerstein told a House of Commons committee today that his bank received received 200 applications within minutes of the emergency scheme opening at 8am. The [...]
Treasury: Furlough scheme now covers 8.4m workers May 27, 2020 The number of people covered by the government’s job retention furlough scheme has risen to 8.4m, the Treasury revealed today. The new figure marks an increase of 400,000 people on last week’s update, with over 1m companies using the scheme. In addition, the value of such claims has now risen to a total of £15bn, [...]
Business organisations form coalition in response to coronavirus May 6, 2020 Leading employer organisations have joined forces to create a united voice for business in response to the coronavirus pandemic. A group of more than 20 organisations have formed the Business Action Council (BAC), which claims to represent more than half a million businesses across the UK. Its founding members include the Confederation of British Industry [...]
UK launches 100 per cent state-backed ‘bounce back’ loans May 4, 2020 The UK’s smallest businesses will be able to apply for 100 per cent state-backed so-called bounce back loans worth up to £50,000 from today. The government’s bounce back loans scheme provides micro loans worth 25 per cent of turnover, up to £50,000, just 24 hours after applying for them. The minimum loan amount is £2,000 [...]