New Business bank April 2013 – An introduction The new Business Bank as first announced by Vince Cable last summer was designed to pull under one roof the myriad of government schemes aimed, in all good faith, at increasing lending across the business spectrum. There was a particular emphasis on the SME, the supposed lifeblood […]
More Funding for Lending – will this ease bank problems?
The Bank of England has today announced that the Funding for Lending (FLS) scheme that was due to end in January 2014 will be extended for another year to 2015. Background Since the launch last August, the FLS seems to have had a positive impact on the availability of mortgages but has been severely criticised […]
Availability of funding plummets says BoE report! Are you affected?
According to the Bank of England’s recently published ‘Trends in Lending’ report, business lending fell by £4.8bn between December and February and by £2.8bn in February alone! This has had an adverse affect on the business finance strategy of many businesses, and continues to be a real concern for the future of the UK economy. […]
Business Strategy 101: Think like a banker for new business finance
Think like a Banker for better results with your Business Finance applications When you need new or replacement finance you will often put together a plan for the bank to support your application. Over the years I have put together many of these documents, and whilst we always try to show a good bottom line […]
How to save your company when the Bank says NO to business finance
When the bank says NO it isn’t the end of the line! Whether it is a refusal for a new loan, or you feel that they are making things very difficult and the relationship has broken down with your existing facility – THERE ARE ALWAYS OPTIONS!!! Here are five valuable tips that have worked for […]
6 quick steps to planning a turnaround strategy
The hardest part of planning a company turnaround is recognising that you have problems, and that action needs to be taken to avoid a terminal decline. Once you have done this, anything is possible, however bad you believe the situation is. I fully recognise that time is of the essence in these situations, so here […]
How to find Turnaround Finance – a 4 step guide
Since the global financial crisis of 2008, any form of finance has been more difficult to come by, with the banks seeking to rebuild both their reputations and share prices; whilst at the same time responding to regulators’ desire for them to reduce their balance sheets. This dearth of business finance has been particularly badly […]
5 self survey questions: Need a Turnaround strategy or new finance?
5 big picture questions to help you decide if you need to look at a Turnaround Strategy or business finance support and advice. It’s often difficult when you are in the middle of a situation every day to see the big picture. What I’m suggesting here is that you take yourself outside the day job […]
SME Business funding update and the 2013 Budget
The lack of access to finance for the SME is recognised as being a significant barrier to the country returning to growth! The 2013 budget presented little hope that this funding blockage would be released anytime soon. The chancellor announced a reduction for UK corporation tax to 20% from 2014, a £2,000 NIC holiday and a […]
14 need to know points on Cyprus and how it affects business finance
Could Cyprus be the trigger for yet another, potentially fatal Eurozone crisis? This is a problem that the EU have tried to ignore, but to no avail, it is now coming back to bite them, and in particular the Germans, in a big way! In a worst case scenario, this could lead to the exit […]