Tag Archive for Small-business Banking

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Opening a business bank account in the UK: How-to and best accounts

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By Ben Lobel on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

Compare Business Bank Account Deals
Compare the UK’s top business bank accounts from the high street to the alternatives
1. What type of business bank account are you interested in?

New Business / Startup Account

Switching Bank Account

Account With No Credit Checks

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Choosing the right kind of banking service is a major opportunity to get your business basics right from the beginning. While it may be inconvenient to maintain a separate account for both your personal and business activities, it is good practice to do so to keep your accounts clean. Here, we’ll look at how to go about opening a business bank account in the UK and what options are

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Hot Business News Today

Opening a business bank account in the UK: How-to and best accounts

by  •  • 0 Comments

By Ben Lobel on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

Compare Business Bank Account Deals
Compare the UK’s top business bank accounts from the high street to the alternatives
1. What type of business bank account are you interested in?

New Business / Startup Account

Switching Bank Account

Account With No Credit Checks

Unsure (Show me everything)

Powered By NerdWallet

Choosing the right kind of banking service is a major opportunity to get your business basics right from the beginning. While it may be inconvenient to maintain a separate account for both your personal and business activities, it is good practice to do so to keep your accounts clean. Here, we’ll look at how to go about opening a business bank account in the UK and what options are

Read more...

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Can I open a business bank account after bankruptcy?

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By Mike Conroy on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs
If you are considering entering bankruptcy, it’s important that you take professional advice before doing so, as going bankrupt can have serious effects on you and your business depending on your individual circumstances.
Any businesses concerned about cash flow issues should speak to their financing provider as soon as possible to discuss what products and support may be available. These options may vary depending on your circumstances, but could include applying for or extending an overdraft, a working capital loan or other sources of finance such as invoice finance.
Can I run a business while bankrupt?
When you are subject to a bankruptcy order, there will be restrictions placed on you until you are discharged from bankruptcy. These restrictions depend on whether you’re a sole trader or have a limited company.
As an undischarged bankrupt (when your bankruptcy is still ongoing), you are not allowed to act as a company director. If you’re the sole director, personal bankruptcy can result in your company being liquidated.
>See also: Half a million businesses at risk of collapse without more support
Bankruptcy doesn’t have the same impact on sole traders. You can continue trading

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What is the Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS)?

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Originally written by Lewis Shand-Smith on Small Business
What is the BBRS?
The Business Banking Resolution Service was launched in February this year, and is already helping small businesses who have had problems with their banks.
It is a free, voluntary scheme involving seven of the main business banks. Between them, these seven banks cover over 90 per cent of the SME banking market in the UK. It deals with unresolved disputes between larger SME customers and their banking services providers.
It is independent and the banks – which have signed up to a contract detailing the service – must accept its determinations. The BBRS can help UK registered businesses, partnerships, trusts, charities, friendly societies and co-operative societies.
How does it differ from the FOS?
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is a scheme set up by statute for individuals and smaller SMEs. The BBRS has been designed so that it does not overlap with the FOS, but rather dovetails with the FOS’s rules. If your SME is not the right size for one it is likely to be right for the other, and the BBRS will refer you to the other organisation if it cannot help.
I’m a small business – can the BBRS help me?
It depends

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Small business banking dispute service costs £23m to set up

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS), the voluntary ombudsman set up to handle any banking dispute between small businesses and high-street banks, has cost £23m to establish.
Seven high-street banks have split the £23m setting-up cost of the banking dispute service between them, so no taxpayer money was involved.
But BBRS has yet to pay out damages to any small business since its launch was delayed from November until mid-February.
>See also: Business Banking Resolution Service opens doors in November
The BBRS said that it hopes to settle its first disputes between wronged small business borrowers and banks by the summer.
About 500 disputes were pre-registered with the BBRS before its mid-February launch, and it has 160 “live” cases going through at the moment, plus another 48 new cases register since February 14.
The BBRS was set up after thousands of companies were damaged by banking scandals. It gives small businesses an independent view on banking disputes. It is funded by seven banks but is independent of them.
Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake, co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on fair business banking, described the setting-up costs to The Times as “eye-watering”.
For example, £9.2m was spent on “third-party delivery costs” to get

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Covid debt drowning small businesses to the tune of £104bn

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Bank lending to small businesses hit over £100bn last year as SMEs scrambled for Government-backed Covid debt facilities.
Overdraft applications flatlined, despite gross bank lending to SMEs rising by 82 per cent to £104bn.
Around 1.5m Bounce Back Loan and Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme Covid debt facilities had been approved by the end of 2020.
And nearly one third of businesses accessed grant funding last year, compared to just 2 per cent in 2019.
The pandemic has hit the smallest firms hardest, with 49 per cent of sole trader and self-employed businesses reporting a fall in turnover compared to 38 per cent of businesses with 50-249 employees.
Worryingly, despite the flood of cheap Government lending, one third of small businesses surveyed in the latest British Business Bank report expect to shrink.
Only one in five (21 per cent) were expecting to grow, compared with 28 per cent the previous year.
SMEs in business services (25 per cent) and production (23 per cent) sectors were most optimistic about their prospects for growth over the next year, with businesses in construction and other services sectors least optimistic (both 17 per cent).
Encouragingly, small businesses have amassed a war chest due to the

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Microbusiness £50,000 Bounce Back Loans – how they work

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
UPDATED: The chancellor is extending the repayment period on Bounce Back Loans for 1.4m small businesses.
Small firms will have ten years to repay instead of the previous six years, as announced by Sunak in September 2020. Interest on extended loans will be at a fixed rate of 2.5 per cent.
Businesses can also choose to make interest-only payments for six months (this option is available up to three times on the length of the loan) or pause repayments for up to six months (this option is only available once).
Lenders will start communicating these options to customers three months before repayments begin and advise them on how each option may affect their payment profile. They contact customers directly so there’s no need to get in touch with them.
The Bank of England’s regulation chief is warning that half of Bounce Back Loans will go sour.
What’s more, figures from the Office of National Statistics show that 14 per cent of businesses think they have little or no chance of surviving the next three months.
Last year, the government extended the application for Bounce Back Loans until the end of March 2021. Previously, the loan deadline was extended to January

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Government plans permanent state-backed small business loan scheme

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The government is planning to replace existing coronavirus business support with a permanent state-backed small business loan scheme.
Under the plan, which would be launched in January, the government would guarantee 80 per cent of loans to small businesses, ranging from a few thousand pounds up to £10m per company over a six-year lending period.
In effect, the new state-backed SME loan scheme would extend the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) but with a lower threshold. The minimum CBILS loan is £10,000.
>See also: Treasury eyes hitting self-employed gig workers with VAT charge
According to the Financial Times, the banks would set their own interest rate for their loans, but the rate is likely to be capped at about 15 per cent – just like the CBILS – which is far higher than the 2.5 per cent fixed interest rate of the parallel Bounce Back Loans Scheme (BBLS).
Research by our sister title GrowthBusiness found that lenders are charging anything between 3 per cent and 15 per cent for CBILS loans.
As of last month, the CBILS and the BBLS have lent £60.64bn to struggling businesses between them.
And the new state-backed SME lending scheme would have more stringent

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Hot Business News Today

Government plans permanent state-backed small business loan scheme

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The government is planning to replace existing coronavirus business support with a permanent state-backed small business loan scheme.
Under the plan, which would be launched in January, the government would guarantee 80 per cent of loans to small businesses, ranging from a few thousand pounds up to £10m per company over a six-year lending period.
In effect, the new state-backed SME loan scheme would extend the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) but with a lower threshold. The minimum CBILS loan is £10,000.
>See also: Treasury eyes hitting self-employed gig workers with VAT charge
According to the Financial Times, the banks would set their own interest rate for their loans, but the rate is likely to be capped at about 15 per cent – just like the CBILS – which is far higher than the 2.5 per cent fixed interest rate of the parallel Bounce Back Loans Scheme (BBLS).
Research by our sister title GrowthBusiness found that lenders are charging anything between 3 per cent and 15 per cent for CBILS loans.
As of last month, the CBILS and the BBLS have lent £60.64bn to struggling businesses between them.
And the new state-backed SME lending scheme would have more stringent

Read more...

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No high street banks are accepting fresh Bounce Back Loan applications

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Despite the Bounce Back Loan scheme being extended until the end of January, no high street banks are open to BBL applications from new customers.
As of today (November 3), Starling Bank remains the only accredited lender out of 28 which is open to Bounce Back Loan applications from those who bank elsewhere.
A Starling Bank spokesman said: “There is currently a waitlist and we are prioritising established business and sole traders who use Starling as their primary account. Eligible customers will be sent an email inviting them to apply, but we can’t guarantee that everyone on the waitlist will receive a loan.”
>See also: Most banks not allowing small businesses to open bank accounts
All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking research has suggested that up to 250,000 small businesses “are effectively locked out of the market”, given they do not bank with accredited lenders.
Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative MP and co-chair of the APPGFG, said: “We welcome the extension to Bounce Back Loans [BBLS] and the ability to top up, but it is critical that banks are open for new business including from new customers.
“Over the last few weeks the handful of lenders who were open

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