A recent study by the business software services provider, Sage UK, has found that almost 25% of requests by small businesses for business loans were rejected by the banks last year.
Read more on Small Business Loans and Debts…
There was a time that the trade relationship between supplier and customer was pretty much a private matter. Not any more.
Chances are that if you have a trade account with a supplier they are probably keeping tabs on your credit worthiness, just like your credit card provider does. 30 days credit means exactly that if you want to keep a clean sheet.
Read more on Majority of owner managed businesses have bad credit rating…
Smallbusiness.co.uk is reporting that many small business owners are fed up with having to pay the banks high rates on their business borrowing.
Businesses believe that bank-lending terms are exorbitant, according to research from finance provider Syscap.
Wow, just in time for Christmas the Halifax try sew a little doubt into people’s minds when they are opening their Christmas presents. Thanks!
New research from Halifax has revealed that there are an estimated 217,000 credit cards which are kept secret from spouses.
The bank has warned that this could carry serious implications for household finances, as well as …
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Read more on 217,000 hidden credit cards masking debt struggles…
Business website smallbusiness.co.uk is quoting three significant names in the UK small business arena as saying that we are not out of the woods just yet.
Charlie Mullins, founder of Pimlico Plumbers, says he is not optimistic about next year. ‘We’re busy and slightly up on the first quarter, but I feel that the economy is not going to change for the better, and worse is to come.
Read more on Small Business Boss Says "economy is not going to change for the better"…
So on the one hand we appear to have reports saying that banks are not lending to businesses, and then we hear the banks saying “but nobody wants to borrow”. Is it any wonder that people get confused.
With all the claims and counter claims circulating about the turmoil within the finance markets it is difficult to establish what is really going on.
Naturally the main authority figures within the finance industry are at pains to point out that the economy is strong and that the lending institutions within the UK are all strong. Well one would hope so given that the high-street banks in this country have been making staggering profits over the last 3 years.
We’ve taken the liberty of listing some of the headlines from the finance industry press over October and November:
There is a very good reason why commercial mortgage lenders always advertise their best commercial mortgage rate, they want to attract the maximum interest in their product range.
The trouble is that when people start looking for a business loan they do not really know what makes a good commercial mortgage rate. It’s easy for an advert to promise 1% over LIBOR, but what if you don’t have the first idea what LIBOR is? (its the London Interbank Offer Rate by the way). The most common complaint amongst business customers is that the way in which the mortgage rate is calculated is not transparent. They do not understand how they went from applying for the commercial mortgage because of an attractive rate in an advert to being offered a much higher rate.
The exact criteria that banks and other commercial lenders use to work out what rates to offer are not usually made public, but the general principle that they employ remain fairly constant from one lender to another. The first question that needs to be addressed is whether the property is an investment or for owner occupation.
Brokers and commercial lenders are reporting that demand for commercial mortgages remains strong. Although there continues to be much speculation about the future of the housing market in general the commercial property sector appears to be quietly carrying on regardless.The value of most commercial property is underpinned by the rental yield that it can generate, given that the majority of commercial property is still not owner occupied there is plenty of scope for the market to change.
Read more on Demand for Commercial Mortgages Remains Strong…
Bridging finance is a way of quickly raising short-term finance secured against residential or commercial property. Typically bridging finance is arranged within days, although it can take longer.
Most bridging lenders will claim that they are the quickest, offer the best service, or most flexible terms. In practise there is a huge variety of standards within the bridging finance sector. Although bridging lenders have improved their product offering and pricing it still pays to shop around, selecting the wrong lender or broker could prove very costly.