Provident Financial to shut doorstep lending arm after 141 years as it crashes to loss May 10, 2021 Troubled sub-prime lender Provident Financial today confirmed plans to shutter its doorstep lending arm as it reported a hefty loss for the full year. The Bradford-based company said it was withdrawing from the home credit market after 141 years, adding that it has begun a consultation process for 2,100 employees. “In light of the changing [...]
Soho House mulls $3bn New York listing amid IPO boom February 25, 2021 Private members’ club Soho House is the latest company reportedly mulling a New York listing with a valuation of up to $3bn. Soho House, which operates 27 clubs around the world, first considered a Wall Street listing in 2018. This time round the company has hired JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley and is looking to [...]
FSB: banks must ‘step up’ support for new Bounce Back Loan applications October 30, 2020 The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called for the government to introduce further support measures and for banks to “step up” to ensure small businesses can access the financing they need. The organisation said it was “particularly concerned” by the number of small businesses that were struggling to access government-backed Bounce Back Loans (BBLs) [...]
Today final day for borrowers to apply for payment holiday on mortgages, cards and loans March 31, 2021 Borrowers have until the end of today to apply for a payment holiday on products such as mortgages, personal loans and credit cards. Eligible customers who have not taken a payment holiday before, and those who have previously had a payment deferral totalling less than six months, have until tonight to apply. Payment holidays are [...]
Hotels, restaurants and pubs ‘optimistic’ about bounce back in trading March 8, 2021 Many hotel, restaurant and pub firms are “optimistic” about the future despite the pressures of the Covid-19 crisis, with most expecting trading to bounce back by the end of the year, a survey showed. Hotel businesses had the most positive outlook, with 83 per cent of the operators surveyed saying they were confident about future [...]
Treasury rebuffs calls from City banks for help chasing bad debts from Covid loans November 20, 2020 Treasury rebuffs calls from City banks for help chasing bad debts from Covid loans
Housebuilder Vistry to double profit in 2021 as Sunak extends property tax cuts March 4, 2021 Housebuilder Vistry Group predicted that it would at least double its profit before tax over the coming financial year after a strong start to the year. As a result of the positive outlook, the firm said that it was reinstating a final dividend of 20p per share. It follows fellow builder Taylor Wimpey in reintroducing [...]
Businesses left in the lurch as up to £1.4bn of Covid-19 grants still unpaid February 10, 2021 Local authorities across England are still yet to pay out as much as £1.4bn in emergency Covid-19 grants, putting thousands of businesses at risk of further job cuts. Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request revealed that an estimated 87 per cent of the £1.6bn Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) fund still has not been [...]
Don’t make us pay national insurance for furloughed staff, say struggling businesses November 27, 2020 Business groups representing hospitality, retail and leisure businesses have united to urge the government to provide sector specific support for fear of going bust due to higher tier restrictions. The groups, which have launched a ‘Bounce Back Better’ campaign to urge the government to provide them support, have asked for National Insurance payments to be [...]
1m SMEs receive bounce back loans amid pandemic July 7, 2020 More than 1m small businesses have now borrowed a total of £31bn in bounce back loans from the government, according to the Treasury’s latest statistics. Overall government loans to help businesses survive the coronavirus crisis hit £45.4bn as of 5 July, data released today showed. Bounce back loans, which allow SMEs to borrow up to [...]