The Portsmouth office of business rescue, recovery and restructuring specialist Begbies Traynor has been appointed liquidator of the city’s long-established Lemon Sole restaurant. The owner company, Fountain Coffee Shop, was forced into liquidation following a difficult period for the restaurant which has seen a steady decline in custom over the last four years. Once at the heart of the Portsmouth community…

Euler Hermes, the UK’s largest credit insurer, is urging UK companies to consider how they plan to release their 2009 company accounts which will inevitably give a picture of company performance at the depth of the recession, and may impact future credit. September represents the looming deadline for limited companies, with a 31st December financial year end, to file their accounts with Companies House. Whi…

The Forum of Private Business is responding to the latest figures from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), which show that lending to the UK’s small firms is in decline. The banking trade association’s figures indicating that new loans to small firms increased by £75 million between May and June 2010, but year-on-year term lending has decreased by £269 million, compared to June 2009 &#…

Lovetts Plc, one of the UK’s leading law firms specialising in commercial debt recovery has welcomed the Government’s Green Paper designed to address the lending crisis to small firms. The firm saw late payment demands to secure outstanding debt rise by almost a quarter (24.6%) year on year in the first half of 2010. Charles Wilson, Chairman and Managing Director of Lovetts says “The rise in late paym…

Award-winning, Manchester-based debt management company, The Debt Advisor, has partnered with specialist armed forces home-buying adviser, Mortgages4Forces, to offer debt solutions to the military. The arrangement will see The Debt Advisor offer its comprehensive range of personal debt management services to all sections of the armed forces across the UK, potentially some 240,000 regular and voluntary personnel and an a…

The value of debt judgments (CCJs) faced by businesses and consumers in Northern Ireland in the first half of 2010 totalled £12.6m according to figures released today (July 29 2010) by Registry Trust, the non-profit organisation that collects judgment information from Northern Ireland and other jurisdictions in the British Isles. The release shows that both the value and numbers of CCJs have stabilised around the …

A small business support group has hit out at plans to abolish the default retirement age. The new Government this week said it intended to press ahead with the previous administration’s plans to remove an employer’s option to retire staff at the age of 65. If the proposal goes ahead, businesses could be forced to start keeping on staff indefinitely in little over a year’s time. The…

A new survey which looks at how the economic downturn is affecting holidaymakers’ habits found that almost forty percent (38%) of Brits are actively trying to spend less money on their holidays this year, with more than half of those (56%) deciding not to go abroad in order to cut the cost of their holiday. R3 Vice-President, Frances Coulson, commented: “The current trend for staycations has been arou…

The Credit Services Association (CSA) has announced the results of its 2010 Diploma Course, held in partnership with City & Guilds, the UK's leading awarding body. The course, now in its 10th successive year, is open to everyone involved in the debt servicing industry, offering the chance for students to gain a greater understanding of the debt collection industry through the accredited course, to promote best prac…

On the 13th of July Coface filed its accreditation request with the CESR (Committee of European Securities Regulators) as a rating agency specialising in corporates, for its 10 rating agencies in Europe. Coface offers an alternative to the traditional 3 rating agencies, as well as a response to the issues concerning independence and responsibility which currently place the rating agencies at the heart of the actual debate on r…