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Reading Time | < 1 min 09 Feb 2016

Local authorities to extend Sunday trading hours

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Amendments have been made to the Enterprise Bill allowing local authorities to extend Sunday opening hours.

High street retailers will now be able to seasonally adjust their opening hours to enable them to better compete for trade with internet retailers.  

In December 2015, online retailers accounted for 13.8% of all retail spending.

It is hoped that the extension will mean that high street retailers can increase their trade through capitalising on tourism opportunities. Examples of the potential benefits of this are those currently enjoyed by EU countries that have already extended their Sunday trading hours, such as Sweden where turnover has increased 5%.  

The changes are part of new measures to delegate Sunday trading laws to local authorities to put a renewed focus on high streets and city centres.

The measures also allow workers to ‘opt-out’ of working Sundays, allowing them to give a months’ notice to retailers if they no longer want to work Sundays.

Business Minister Anna Soubry said:

“Extending Sunday shopping hours has the potential to help businesses and high streets better compete as our shopping habits change.

“The rights of shop workers are key to making these changes work in everyone’s interests. We are protecting those who do not wish to work Sundays, and those who do not want to work more than their normal Sunday working hours.”

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Reading Time | < 1 min 08 Feb 2016

Peer-to-peer lending at record high in 2015

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Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending growth reached more than £2.2 billion in 2015, according to figures by Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2PFA).

The industry sector has lent more than £4 billion, meaning that the market has now doubled in size since the end of 2014. In the end of 2015, P2PFA members provided just under £660 million in new lending.

Users of P2P lending also grew over the last 12 months with lenders increasing by more than 22% to 128,000, while borrowers almost doubled to 273,000.

Christine Farnish, chair of the P2PFA, said:

“The growth demonstrates that more lenders and borrowers believe our industry to be a real alternative to traditional lenders. This is only enhanced by our members’ approach to transparency and strict business conduct rules.

“2016 is another important year for the industry as we look forward to the April launch of the Innovative Finance ISA.”

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Reading Time | < 1 min 05 Feb 2016

Enterprise Bill moves to second reading

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The Enterprise Bill has been drafted for a second reading.

The government aims to provide businesses with an environment for growth and job creation.

Deregulation and trading

The bill will extended the deregulation target for businesses to include statutory regulators. 

The primary authority scheme has also been extended to give more businesses access to reliable, consistent regulatory advice.

Small Business Commissioner

An established small business commissioner will be introduced to handle complaints by small businesses about payment-related issues with larger businesses.

Apprenticeships

The government has committed to 3 million new apprenticeships by 2020. 

A new apprenticeship levy will be introduced in April 2017. The levy will be charged at a rate of 0.5% of an employer’s pay bill.

Business rates

Business rate rises will be capped while new legislations will be placed to pave way for better information sharing between local government and the Valuation Office.

The bill will sit alongside a range of legislative changes already introduced:

  • reducing corporation tax 
  • cutting business rates and doubling the small business rate relief
  • half a million employers no longer have to make national insurance contributions
  • supporting 30,000 businesses with start-up loans
  • launched a 5-year programme to help businesses with export opportunities around the world.

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Reading Time | < 1 min 04 Feb 2016

London Help to Buy scheme launches

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The new Help to Buy scheme for London has launched, allowing residents to buy a new home with a 5% deposit and a mortgage as low as 55%.

First-time buyers in the capital can purchase a new home with a deposit backed by a 40% interest equity loan for the first 5 years.

The new scheme is an extension of the current Help to Buy scheme launched in 2013.

Under the current scheme, loans of up to 20% were made available to first-time buyers on new homes worth up to £600,000. 

The new scheme will allow loans for London residents to be doubled up to 40% when purchasing a new home in London.

Equity loans have also been extended to 2021 with a further £8.6 billion, aiming to help 145,000 more people take steps towards owning their first home.

Communities Secretary Greg Clark said:

“We’re determined to make home ownership a realistic aspiration for hard-working young people, wherever they are in the country.

“Our multi-billion pound investment will open the door to thousands of Londoners wanting to own their own home, following in the footsteps of nearly 270,000 people who have already bought through government-backed schemes.”

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Reading Time | 2 mins 03 Feb 2016

‘Skill-shortage vacancies’ a challenge for businesses

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The challenge that many businesses are facing in trying to get the right people for their workforce has been detailed in a UKCES Employer Skills Survey.

Of the 91,200 employers surveyed, 19% had a least one vacancy, up from 15% in 2013.

“Skill-shortage vacancies” (vacancies that are hard to fill due to a lack of skilled applicants) present a growing challenge for business owners looking to fill their vacancies. 6% of employers had at least 1 skill-shortage vacancy, an increase from 4% in 2013.

86% reported that they had a fully proficient workforce, while the impact of skill gaps continued to affect smaller businesses. The remaining 14% have a current gap in skills in their workforce, and UKCES estimates this equates to around 1.4 million staff not being fully proficient in their role.

The survey also found:

  • 8% had difficulty retaining staff in specific jobs
  • 2 million workers reported to be under-utilised, leading to missed opportunities to increase performance and productivity
  • 66% had funded or arranged training and development for their staff
  • total employer expenditure on training increased by 6% between 2013 and 2015, from £43.0 billion to £45.4 billion.

Seamus Nevin, head of employment and skills policy at the Institute of Directors, said:

“Businesses are committed to training and developing their staff, but with demand for skills on the rise, we need to make sure that the apprenticeship levy has the flexibility required for firms to continue to train according to their needs.

“In the short-term, the government needs to ensure that employers can continue to get access to the skills they need from abroad. In the longer run, schools need to get careers guidance right so that young people and parents are aware of the opportunities in new and emerging sectors of the economy.”

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Reading Time | < 1 min 02 Feb 2016

Buyout activity for SMEs at 5 year high

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Investment for SMEs is at its highest level for 5 years, according to research from Lyceum Capital and Cass Business School.

Based on private equity investments in 2015 with an enterprise value between £10 million and £100 million, the analysis shows that volume transactions increased by 12% last year, with 87 investments totalling £3.43bn.

Total deal volumes remained between 30%-40% but investments are expected to continue in 2016 with investors focusing on SMEs with perceived earning quality and a good potential for growth.

Investment activity was highest during the second half of 2015. The value of acquisitions in the £25-75 million range grew by 52% to £2bn, indicating an improvement of investor confidence for established SMEs.

The business services and industrial sectors also saw investment increase by 84% and 66% respectively, while the healthcare sector showed a 33% decrease in 2015.

Andrew Aylwin, partner at Lyceum Capital, said:

“In a global economic market plagued with uncertainties ranging from falling commodity prices to volatility in the Far East, it is encouraging to see that the outlook for entrepreneurs and medium sized companies has never looked stronger. 

“We expect these businesses to continue to attract increased amounts of investment and grow into industry champions over the next 12 months.”

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Reading Time | 2 mins 01 Feb 2016

Insolvencies continued to fall in 2015

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The number of people being declared insolvent was at its lowest level for a decade, according to the Insolvency Service show.

A total of 79,965 individual insolvencies were reported in 2015, a 19% decrease compared to 2014 and the lowest since 2005.

3,495 companies entered insolvency in the last quarter of 2015, 2.7% less than Q3 2015 and over 10% less than Q4 2014.

Personal insolvencies

The continued fall in individual insolvencies was mainly driven by a decrease in individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs). 

33,993 IVAs were reported in 2015, a 23% decrease from 2014.

The number of bankruptcies was the lowest since 1990 with a total of 15,767 bankruptcy orders in 2015, 22% lower than in 2014.

The number of debt relief orders decreased by 9% to 24,175.

Phillip Sykes, president of the insolvency professionals trade body R3 commented on the latest statistics:

“Continuing low inflation and a growing economy have helped people pay down or service debts. The return of real wage growth has put a big dent in insolvency numbers.

“Quarterly insolvency numbers have been boosted by October changes to debt relief orders, which have made the insolvency regime more accessible to people in financial trouble.”

Business insolvencies

Compulsory liquidations decreased to the lowest level since 1989 with 583 companies subjected to a compulsory winding-up order in Q4 2015.

2,484 businesses entered creditors voluntary liquidation in Q4 2015, a 1.2% decrease on the previous quarter and 3.0% lower compared to the same period in 2014.

350 businesses filed for administrations in 2015, while the liquidation rate in the 12 months ending to Q4 2015 was 0.44% of all active companies.

 Mr Sykes said:

“The falling price of a barrel of oil has helped businesses to bring costs down. However, it is causing a considerable degree of difficulty for those in the sector.

“While many oil and gas businesses are currently undergoing a period of restructuring, if they are unable to cut costs sufficiently we may see a wave of insolvencies in the sector in future quarters particularly among the smaller firms.”

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Reading Time | < 1 min 29 Jan 2016

Self-employed not paying into pensions

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Only 17% of self-employed people are saving into a pension, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

A report by Citizens Advice has found that the self-employed consider investing their money into a savings account, cash ISA or property a better option.

Based on a survey of 650 people, 3 key issues are preventing the wider adoption of pension saving by the self-employed:

  • lack of understanding – 67% do not understand the tax breaks with 25% wrongly thinking that an ISA offers better tax breaks than a pension
  • lack of trust – 50% do not trust pensions as a safe place to invest their money
  • lack of information – 27% have never received any information or advice about pensions.

Since 2001, self-employment has increased by 32% to 4.5 million. However, the number of self-employed people paying into a pension has halved, falling from 1.1 million in 2001/02 to 450,000 in 2013/14.

Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said:

“A lack of information and understanding on how paying into a pension can provide an income in retirement means self-employed people are turning to other options to fund their future, with many people not saving enough.  

“While property or cash savings may be viable options, people could also benefit from being in a pension scheme.

“It is really important that self-employed people are offered up front information about how pensions can work for them so they can make an informed choice as to the best retirement savings plan.” 

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Reading Time | < 1 min 28 Jan 2016

Businesses underestimating risks of cyber crime

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More than a third of businesses have fallen victim of cyber crime such as hacking, phishing and pharming.

However, according to research by Aviva, 2 in 5 (44%) business owners don’t believe they are likely to be victims of cyber crime, whilst a quarter (23%) admitted to not knowing what to do to protect themselves from cyber crime.

24% of the businesses surveyed are currently taking steps to protect themselves from cyber crime. 

When asked about the different types of cyber crime, phishing was ranked highest at 77% followed by identity theft (69%) and hacking (66%). 

43% were aware of ransom demands being made to them by criminals to access their information. Businesses were also aware of pharming (46%) and cyber attacks (38%) that prevent access to their internal systems.

When asked if they knew what to do if they faced up against cyber crime, more than a third of business owners (34%) admitted they don’t know, while 27% were not sure.

Angus Eaton, MD of commercial lines at Aviva, said:

“Protecting your business from cyber crime is good business because your customers want the reassurance that their data is safe in your hands. If you haven’t done so already now is the time to put cyber risk on your agenda and take action to help prevent your business becoming a target.”

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