Monthly Archives: April 2020

Hot Business News Today

Half a million small businesses in financial distress

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Half a million small businesses were in significant financial distress in the first of three months of the year, according to Begbies Traynor.
And this could only be “the tip of the iceberg” for the second quarter as the coronavirus lockdown comes into effect, cratering the UK economy and pushing small businesses into closing their doors.
One in four businesses in Britain has already been forced to close down temporarily because of the government’s coronavirus containment measures, according to the Office for National Statistics.
>See also: Coronavirus emergency business loans may be changed yet again
In a survey of 5,316 businesses, the statistics agency found that 25 per cent had closed between March 23 and April 5.
Insolvency specialist Begbie Traynor’s latest quarterly Red Flag Alert survey found that small- and medium-sized businesses have been hit hardest, with 504,000 businesses saying they are in financial distress – just 5,000 short of the 509,000 total.
Almost 2,300 of these businesses were in “critical distress”, which is usually a precursor to insolvency, the firm said.
Ric Traynor, executive chairman of Begbies Traynor, said: “We expect these numbers to be the ‘tip of the iceberg’ and as the year progresses, we expect to

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Hot Business News Today

9 of the best business energy suppliers based in the UK

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
For many business owners, trade has slowed since we went into lockdown, but it needn’t be a reason to put everything to be on hold. You can use the extra time to fine tune your business operations – in this case, review your business energy supplier – and save a bit of cash.
The average small business uses 22,500 kWh a month for gas, and 32,500 kWh of electricity per month based on per annum energy use, according to BritishBusinessEnergy.co.uk. More on that below.

GasElectricity

Business sizeLower end usage (kWh)Higher end usage (kWh)Lower end usage (kWh)Higher end usage (kWh)

Micro5,00015,0005,00015,000

Small15,00030,00015,00025,000

Medium30,00065,00025,00050,000

Source: BritishBusinessEnergy.co.uk
Prices are highly individualised in the business energy market. Providers can give you a quote to get a better sense of what your energy cost will be. This will be based on your postcode and your average consumption, but companies might want a little more information about you and your business.
If you’ve just moved into a new premises and you haven’t sorted out a new energy deal, you’ll be moved onto a deemed/out of contract tariff with the previous occupant’s supplier. And yes, the rates are higher than on regular tariffs.
Your cheapest option is to go on

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