Cash flow remains a significant challenge to large numbers of UK businesses, according to new research from Santander Corporate & Commercial. Almost one in six (17 per cent) respondents in a UK-wide study said they were ‘very’ concerned about managing cash flow effectively over the next 12 months, with a further 27 per cent saying they were ‘quite’ concerned. Around half (46 per cent) of businesses report being hit by at least one recent cash flow setback – with late/ failed payments... Read more >

WorldPay and The Start-Up Loans Company have announced an agreement which will see WorldPay become the recommended payments processor for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs receiving loans and support from The Start-Up Loans Company will now also be offered a cost-effective way to take card payments and grow their business, backed-up by first rate customer support through WorldPay’s Pay As You Go (PAYG) Card Acceptance Service. Geraldine Wilson, managing director, Micro Merchants at WorldPay, commented:... Read more >

Over 120 million transactions are lost each year in the UK through people leaving shops because they can’t pay by card, according to new research from Judo. A further 92.8 million opportunities to sell are lost through people avoiding shops because they don’t accept card payments. Over one in five (21%) consumers said that they had left a store in the past six months without making a purchase because the store didn’t take cards. Almost the same number (19%) had avoided a store altogether because... Read more >

Online payments provider GoCardless has launched a new online Direct Debits payment tool to enable greater numbers of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) around the UK to collect variable one-off and recurring payments by Direct Debit. Traditionally only larger, more established businesses such as utilities providers and mobile operators have been able to access the digital infrastructure banks use to underpin the Direct Debit system. But GoCardless allows any business or individual to tap... Read more >

Business Secretary Vince Cable has launched the first phase of the new business bank. £300 million will be invested alongside private investors to address long-standing gaps in the SME finance market. This money is the first deployment from the £1 billion of new capital allocated to the business bank in the 2012 Autumn Statement. It will build on the success of the Business Finance Partnership to leverage at least the same amount in private sector investment. The focus is on promoting greater diversity... Read more >

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