Tag Archive for Coronavirus

Nearly 17% of small businesses at risk of insolvency

By Timothy Adler on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

Nearly 17 per cent of small and medium-sized businesses in the UK are at risk of insolvency in the next four years as financial support from the Government winds down, says research.

Euler Hermes, the trade credit insurer, has found that Britain’s small businesses are in a more vulnerable situation than their counterparts in France and Germany.

Only 7 per cent of SMEs in Germany are at risk of failure within four years, and 13 per cent in France.

>See also: Swap Bounce Back debt for employee equity, say industry experts

Euler Hermes investigated insolvency risk across 525,000 small businesses across Europe.

The trade credit insurer said that manufacturers and suppliers to the car industry ranked among the most vulnerable, with more than 33 per cent in the sector exposed to the risk of insolvency. About 25 per cent of those in the energy sector and 20 per cent in construction were said to be at risk.

British business failures remained low during the pandemic, thanks to unprecedented Government support, as well as measures to protect companies from insolvency, but distress is expected to rise as the economy reopens, support is

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Nearly 17% of small businesses at risk of insolvency

By Timothy Adler on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

Nearly 17 per cent of small and medium-sized businesses in the UK are at risk of insolvency in the next four years as financial support from the Government winds down, says research.

Euler Hermes, the trade credit insurer, has found that Britain’s small businesses are in a more vulnerable situation than their counterparts in France and Germany.

Only 7 per cent of SMEs in Germany are at risk of failure within four years, and 13 per cent in France.

>See also: Swap Bounce Back debt for employee equity, say industry experts

Euler Hermes investigated insolvency risk across 525,000 small businesses across Europe.

The trade credit insurer said that manufacturers and suppliers to the car industry ranked among the most vulnerable, with more than 33 per cent in the sector exposed to the risk of insolvency. About 25 per cent of those in the energy sector and 20 per cent in construction were said to be at risk.

British business failures remained low during the pandemic, thanks to unprecedented Government support, as well as measures to protect companies from insolvency, but distress is expected to rise as the economy reopens, support is

Read more...

Small businesses failing their HR staff – poll

By Anna Jordan on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

Over a quarter (26.8 per cent) of SMEs haven’t invested in additional training to handle pandemic-related wellbeing concerns and HR staff felt ill-equipped to cope.

Breathe, a people software platform, asked 82 HR employees about how the HR function has changed over the past 18 months and whether they feel they’re being supported. More than half (58.6 per cent) say they are not being supported, while a staggering 95.1 per cent say their workload has increased since March 2020.

Figures also show that existing HR policies aren’t fit for purpose following a huge increase in pandemic concerns, with 92.6 per cent having to adapt HR policies.

Since March 2020, HR staff have cited updating company policies (21.4 per cent) and recruitment-related admin (17.3 per cent) as the two areas where they’re spending the most time on. This is followed by maintaining employee records (15.8 per cent) and furlough management (15.1 per cent) following as the next tasks.  

Almost 80 per cent saying that the duty of care has changed, with staff needing to go further to protect their teams. Plus, a whopping 74.3 per cent of HR teams

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Small businesses failing their HR staff – poll

By Anna Jordan on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

Over a quarter (26.8 per cent) of SMEs haven’t invested in additional training to handle pandemic-related wellbeing concerns and HR staff felt ill-equipped to cope.

Breathe, a people software platform, asked 82 HR employees about how the HR function has changed over the past 18 months and whether they feel they’re being supported. More than half (58.6 per cent) say they are not being supported, while a staggering 95.1 per cent say their workload has increased since March 2020.

Figures also show that existing HR policies aren’t fit for purpose following a huge increase in pandemic concerns, with 92.6 per cent having to adapt HR policies.

Since March 2020, HR staff have cited updating company policies (21.4 per cent) and recruitment-related admin (17.3 per cent) as the two areas where they’re spending the most time on. This is followed by maintaining employee records (15.8 per cent) and furlough management (15.1 per cent) following as the next tasks.  

Almost 80 per cent saying that the duty of care has changed, with staff needing to go further to protect their teams. Plus, a whopping 74.3 per cent of HR teams

Read more...

Failings revealed in Covid Recovery Loan Scheme

By Anna Jordan on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

A number of problems have been exposed with the government’s Covid Recovery Loan Scheme.

The Times reports that lenders are warning of weak demand for the scheme post-pandemic from small businesses. There are also issues with firms that want to access the state-backed funding.

One banker told the newspaper that the previous Covid-19 emergency funding, totalling around £74bn, had been “too generous”.

The RLS is intended to bridge the gap between the emergency Covid-19 financial support and more normal credit conditions. RLS provides credit up to £10m and comes with an 80 per cent government guarantee for lenders – less generous than the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Bounce Back Loan scheme (BBLS).

>See also: Recovery Loan Scheme up to £10m will replace CBILS and BBLS

However, there is evidence pointing to other issues with the scheme, namely too few accredited lenders and a high number of application rejections. Only 18 providers are accredited by the British Business Bank to distribute the loans.  

Mr Bounce Back, a website discussing Bounce Back Loans, Recovery Loans and the Recovery Loan Scheme, has had “message after message” from firms

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