Finance & Grants

Article: Business Angels

Business Angels Finance of £25,000 to £750,000 can be surprisingly difficult to obtain. Banks generally require security and most venture capital firms are not interested in financing these amounts. Business angels are wealthy, entrepreneurial...

Article: Business Owners Put Their Homes on The Line

Business Owners Put Their Homes on The Line Small Business News 11th January 2012 SMEs now just as likely to apply for a secured loan as they would an unsecured loan or an overdraft  to get access to funds Over half of SME owners turn...

Article: Car Finance

Car Finance If you have decided to invest or reinvest in cars for your business, raising the money is unlikely to be a problem. Provided you have the cash for the deposit, and a reasonable credit record, any dealer will arrange terms. But arranging...

Article: Cashflow is King

Cashflow is King Andy Craven, product & marketing lead, risk management solutions, Dun & Bradstreet UK, argues that a collaborative, cloud-based approach can help businesses to manage their credit risk and ensure healthy cashflow Through...

Article: Cashflow: Monitoring Your Cashflow

Cashflow: Monitoring Your Cashflow Every business needs cash to survive – to pay suppliers, employees and bills. For most businesses, the need for cash increases as the business grows. So it’s crucial to monitor the flow of cash from...

Article: Chancellor Reveals Plans to Ease Credit Access for Small Firms

Chancellor Reveals Plans to Ease Credit Access for Small Firms Small Business News 7th October 2011 Government plans to ease small firms’ access to credit by channelling investment directly into them, have been cautiously welcomed by...

Article: Cheques Will Not be Scrapped as "no viable alternative" Available

Cheques Will Not be Scrapped as “no viable alternative” Available Small Business News 15th July 2011 The Payments Council’s decision not to abolish cheques has been welcomed by business groups, as no viable alternative payment...

Article: Crowdcube Matches Small Businesses with Equity Investment

Crowdcube Matches Small Businesses with Equity Investment Small Business News 15th February 2011 Limited companies seeking equity finance can attract investment by posting a video pitch online, following the launch of website Crowdcube. Crowdcube...

Article: Demand for Business Bank Loans Down

Demand for Business Bank Loans Down Small Business News 8th May 2011 Demand for bank loans fell sharply among small businesses in the first quarter of 2011 — and the number of defaulted repayments went up! The Bank of England’s (BoE) quarterly Cre...

Article: Export Finance

Export Finance Exporting tends to be more demanding financially than selling in the UK. Consignments are usually larger, lead times are longer and the risks are more difficult to control. Negotiating the terms of an export sale is a matter of...

Article: Fear of Rejection Puts SMEs Off Applying for Business Loans

Fear of Rejection Puts SMEs Off Applying for Business Loans Small Business News 18th July 2011 More than half of small businesses didn’t approach their bank for finance in the last year, because they expected to be turned down, research has...

Article: Finance and Money

Finance and Money What Types of Finance are available to you and what best suits your business now? Getting the right type of funding can make a big difference to the success of your business. This section takes you through some of the main types...

Article: Financing Equipment

Financing Equipment Hiring or leasing equipment is one way of making your working capital go further. Instead of paying out up front, you can spread your payments over a set period, and benefit from the use of the equipment in the meantime. Of course...

Article: Financing Your Business

Financing Your Business A solid financial base is essential when you are starting up a new business. The right financing package will carry you through any temporary difficulties yet still allow you to make the most of growth opportunities when they...

Article: Forex Risk Management Tools

Forex Risk Management Tools Risk Management Tools to Protect your Business from a Volatile Forex Market. With the European debt crisis impacting confidence in the region and the current instability of the global forex market, SMEs that trade or...

Article: FPB: Restore Trust in Banks & Boost Alternative Funders

FPB: Restore Trust in Banks & Boost Alternative Funders Small Business News 12th July 2011 The Forum of Private Business is responding to the release of the first quarterly finance monitor commissioned by the British Bankers’...

Article: Funding Circle cuts the cost of Business Borrowing

Funding Circle cuts the cost of Business Borrowing Small Business News 20th August 2010 An innovative online lending service that enables low-level private investors to lend to small firms could significantly reduce the cost of borrowing, its...

Article: Funding Circle Lends £1M to SMEs in Just 10 Weeks

Funding Circle Lends £1M to SMEs in Just 10 Weeks Small Business News 2nd November 2010 People lend £1M directly to small businesses to defy banks in just 10 weeks. The British public has defied banks and lent £1m to the UK’s small businesses via...

Article: Getting a Grant for Your Business

Getting a Grant for Your Business Securing grant funding could really help your business develop and grow. But even experts can find it difficult to keep track of the hundreds of different grant schemes which keep appearing and then disappearing. This...

Article: Governance Failure in Banks is Key to Credit Crunch

Governance Failure in Banks is Key to Credit Crunch Small Business News 16th October 2008 The principal source of the credit crunch is a failure in corporate governance at banks, which encouraged excessive short-term thinking and a blindness to...