Every Cloud...

Commercial bank managers have long complained that it is much easier for clients to get unsecured loans personally, where no evidence is required as to how the loan will be repaid, than it to get unsecured loans for a business, no matter how good the business plan.

U-turn over plans to phase out cheque payments forced

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) is welcoming the Payments Council’s new National Payments Plan, in which it agrees not to phase out cheque payments until adequate alternatives are in place.

It's all about margins

Cash flow expert Donald Findley explains that you need to look at how much

Be healthy,wealthy and wise

Gavin Porritt, Independant Financial advisor looks at how to add benefits to your staff’s salary packages

Peparing your business for sale

Neil Ackroyd, principal partner at Precision Corporate Finance looks at what can be done to prepare a business long term for sale – including how its value is likely to increase by planning for the future.

Credit squeeze forces cuts to secured lending

Banks and building societies are reporting an expected cut in the amount of secured lending they will offer after the Bank of England admitted the credit squeeze is set to intensify.

Spring Clean your Finances

With spring time now officially upon us and a new tax year started, there has never been a better time for small businesses to spend some time spring-cleaning their finances to help get their firms into ship shape condition for a successful 2008.

Business borrowing is getting personal

Insolvency practitioners are warning that banks were forcing entrepreneurs and family-run firms to take second mortgages on their homes and offer personal guarantees before agreeing to provide business loans.

SMEs and regulation - a serious business

Organising your business for the financial year can be a confusing process. To help employers negotiate the ever increasing demands of red tape the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has produced a calendar for small businesses highlighting some of the deadlines they may face.

Blood on the trading floor

The escalating credit crunch is the gravest financial crisis in 60 years. Here a writer untouched by previous crashes argues that this time Britain is heading for recession