Pre-pack for United Carpets October 4, 2012 UNITED Carpets yesterday became the latest company to fall victim to tough high street conditions, after it collapsed into administration and warned of store closures where rent reductions could not be agreed. Administrator Begbies Traynor yesterday sold the flooring and beds firm and its 72 stores, through a pre-pack administration to a wholly owned subsidiary [...]
Begbies says fewer firms failing October 1, 2012 A drop in companies going bust has left business recovery group Begbies Traynor facing a quiet summer, the firm said in a trading update yesterday. Begbies said insolvencies fell 12 per cent in the second quarter of the year, with 5,065 companies going under. The firm has spent £1m on its own restructuring since May, [...]
Begbies falls to a full-year loss July 5, 2012 Business rescue group Begbies Traynor swung to a loss in the year to April as its own restructuring expenses ate into its earnings. Revenues at the firm fell just under five per cent to £57.7m and a £5.5m pre-tax profit was more than wiped out by costs from the disposal of its overseas and tax [...]
LONDON REPORT July 1, 2012 ALL eyes this week will be on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which is on Thursday expected to inject another £50bn into the British economy. The decision is likely to be influenced by last week’s news that the double-dip recession is deeper than first thought. The Office for National Statistics said the [...]
Business confidence hits a two year high as factories prosper April 19, 2012 BRITAIN looks likely to have escaped a double-dip recession as confidence surged in the first quarter of the year, according to survey data published yesterday. A separate study, out today, shows the number of distressed firms fell sharply over the three months led by the manufacturing sector. A net balance of 19 per cent of [...]
Market indexes likely to prove mixed in short trading week April 1, 2012 TODAY The purchasing managers index (PMI) manufacturing reading is expected at 50.7 against 51.2 previously. This is a sector that performed strongly after the banking crisis, but which is now struggling. A reading less than 50 would indicate that the UK manufacturing sector is contracting. Earnings: Punch Taverns. TUESDAY The PMI construction reading is expected [...]
Begbies says insolvencies falling March 12, 2012 Professional services group Begbies Traynor cut 30 of its insolvency practitioners last year as fewer UK companies went bust, it said in a trading update yesterday. The firm said low interest rates had helped to keep the insolvency market “subdued”, though it has been trading in line with expectations thanks to improved cost control and [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 9, 2012 ICAEW Arthur Bailey has been elected as the next vice-president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). Bailey, who will take office on 13 June, has served on ICAEW’s council for 14 years, including three years as chairman of the audit committee, and is a member of the board. He is [...]
Small companies holding back on new investment July 24, 2011 COST pressures and weak domestic demand are preventing small businesses from investing in future growth, a survey by Lloyds TSB unveiled today. Fewer than one in five firms expect to boost their level of investment over the next six months, while slightly more (21 per cent) are planning cuts. The negative balance (minus two per [...]
LATE PAYMENTS ARE STRANGLING SMALL BUSINESS July 24, 2011 THE government has just launched its “Business Buddy” scheme. This will have MPs spending time working in small or medium-sized businesses, seeing first-hand the challenges faced by entrepreneurs. These businesses represent the engine room of economic growth: in total 4.8m of these businesses provide 60 per cent of UK jobs and over half the country’s [...]