News

The fall into administration – and almost immediate rescue – of publicly listed convenience store chain McColl's shows that even resilient sectors see major casualties. Many such stores have held on to a high proportion of the shoppers who turned to them in...

Boris Becker’s two-and-a-half year custodial sentence after being found guilty earlier this month of four charges related to his 2017 bankruptcy is a shocking wake up call to all Bankrupts - whether they are High Net Worth Individuals or not when they find they have...

UNDERSTANDABLY, many small businesses see technology as a necessary evil and a sunk cost. Pressures arising from the pandemic, compounded by Brexit and again by war in Ukraine, have done little to encourage SMEs to embrace new aspects of the digital world. Strapped...

Rising energy prices, broader inflation worries and an underwhelming Spring Statement from the Chancellor may have overshadowed a useful avenue for help that will be closed to SMEs in less than three months. The Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS), which ends on 30 June, may...

THE British Royal Family is often referred to as ‘The Firm’ by some of its own members. It’s a tightly run operation, in which key players are expected to pull their weight in service of the country. The corporate analogy is not wasted on the sizeable organisation...

Business owners will be raising two cheers at best for Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement. Battered in the recent past by Covid, uncertainty from Brexit and now surging inflation compounded by war in Ukraine, UK enterprises had hoped for a little respite from the...

In the immediate aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse, the signs of communism's failure were inescapable. Along with admission of ideological defeat - made all the more painful given the importance of face and pride to the Russian psyche - came financial meltdown...

There is little doubt that war in Ukraine and sanctions for Russia will impact many UK businesses in some way. Large or small, several UK companies already hit by rising inflation and interest rates, as we emerge from two years of the Covid pandemic and the supply...

As inflation soars, it appears that central banks will make an abrupt change of course by tightening monetary policy hard and fast. Remember that monetary policy is anchored around the neutral rate of interest - the price of money needed to balance the global appetite...

The second UK interest rate rise in three months - from 0.25% to 0.5% - has rammed home  worries about inflation that have defined Q1 2022 so far for many businesses. It’s hard to know how long term the present inflationary pressure is likely to be. Academic...

Inflation reached 5.4% last month with 2022 set to be a difficult year for small businesses to fund working capital requirements. In comparison, US inflation hit a staggering 6.8% in November 2021. To combat inflation, The Bank of England took the decision to raise...