Covid emergency loan schemes push UK challenger bank lending to record high August 30, 2021 Lending by British challenger banks surged to a record high last year driven by businesses rushing to capitalise on emergency Covid loan schemes, according to new figures published today. Research by accountancy firm BDO shows challenger bank lending climbed 11 per cent over the last year to £143bn, a record high, up from £128bn in [...]
Angry Lord Agnew says Boris Johnson ‘failed spectacularly as fraud in government is rampant’ at £30bn a year January 25, 2022 The Tory minister who quit yesterday in what has been described as “one of the most dramatic moments ever seen” in the House of Lords has claimed that fraud is rampant in the Government. Lord Agnew of Oulton had been the minister for efficiency and transformation before announcing his resignation at the despatch box and [...]
4 in 10 small businesses will struggle to pay Covid loan repayments, research shows June 7, 2021 Nearly 40 per cent of small businesses could be at risk of closure when repayments of the government’s Bounce Back Loan Scheme start this month. Of the businesses surveyed by Mazuma Accountants, 39 per cent said they will struggle to meet payments, while more than a quarter are downbeat about how their firm will fare [...]
British Business Bank boss calls for more ‘risk-sharing’ in recovery loan scheme March 10, 2021 The head of Britain’s state-owned business bank has called for more risk-sharing in SME lending as she looks at combatting fraud in a new loan scheme. Catherine Lewis La Torre, who took over as chief executive of the British Business Bank (BBB) in September, told City A.M. there is a need for the market to [...]
UK banks bolster debt collection teams ahead of first Covid loan repayments July 6, 2021 The UK’s leading banks are bolstering their debt collection teams as the first repayments of emergency Covid loans fall due. Britain’s four largest banks have hired over 750 workers in their debt collection units in an effort to manage a wave of potential defaults. NatWest has taken on 150 extra staff to handle chasing Covid [...]
Covid loan crisis as taxpayers foot £4.4bn bill to cover losses with more still owed in arrears or defaults February 8, 2023 The cost of Covid-era loan losses to the taxpayer could total £11bn, according to figures released by the British Business Bank British banks have already been paid £4.4bn to cover losses including fraud with more in arrears or default. Of the £77bn issued across three different loan schemes, according to figures published , £4.4bn has [...]
Ranked: London constituencies have highest demand for Covid borrowing in UK June 15, 2021 London constituencies make up the top four UK regions which have seen the highest demand for Covid support loans, according to a new study. Business Rescue Expert collated the amount each devolved UK constituency has borrowed under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). The City tops the [...]
‘It’s a pivotal time’ November 16, 2021 Interview with Simon Kenyon, Group Ambassador for London, Lloyds Banking Group Taking the pulse of London’s financial health is not easy: for every business that’s thriving, or at least showing ‘bouncebackability’ from the pandemic, there are others struggling to keep the wolf from the door. But the economic pulse is beating a little faster inside the [...]
Sunak extends Covid loan relief after BoE says £22bn may never be repaid February 5, 2021 Rishi Sunak to extend Covid loan relief with longer repayment time for small businesses
City police opened 50 per cent more Covid loan fraud probes in February May 24, 2021 City of London police commenced 50 per cent more investigation into fraud connected to the government’s Bounce Back Loan scheme (BBLs) in February than the prior month. Police opened 26 such probes in February, up from 17 in January, international law firm RPC said. It opened a further 28 in March. Back in October the [...]