News Banking figures confirm decline of small business lending T
he Forum of Private Business has responded to the latest figures from the
British Bankers’Association (BBA), which show that lending to the UK’s small firms is in decline. The banking trade association’s figures indicate that new loans to small firms increased by £75 million between May and June 2010,but year-on- year term lending has decreased by £269 million, compared to June 2009. Average monthly loans have declined by almost half since 2008,when banks lent an average of £991 million to small firms. In 2010,the average monthly loan rate is £564 million. In addition,overall lending has
decreased significantly in 2010 despite small businesses increasing deposits into banks by £2.5 billion over the past four months. Matthew Goodman,head of
policy at the Forum of Private Business said:“Our own research shows that both loans and
overdrafts have decreased since the start of June – at a time small businesses need more finance in order to expand. The Forum's latest Economy
Watch survey shows that loan facilities for members on the member panel declined by £66,000 during the past month, while overdrafts decreased by £34,500. Recently,the Government’s business secretary Vince Cable hit out at ‘misleading' banks' claims that, despite demand for lending being low,approval rates are high.In a green paper entitled ‘Financing a Private Sector Recovery' banks could face penalties for failing to boost lending to small businesses. The National Association of
Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB),which is in August publishing its annual survey covering SME finance, said there had been a significant reversal in slight improvements to the availability of finance recorded at the start of the year. Speaking to the Forum,chief
executive Adam Tyler said: “Evidence from NACFB commercial finance brokers,both anecdotal as well as from the initial results of our 09/10 survey,taken in conjunction with the Bank of England’s own figures,suggest that credit is still extremely difficult for businesses to access. “There was certainly a
loosening of funding and a slight relaxation of criteria at the beginning of the year – but this closed off again just after the general election,and shows little sign of reopening. He added:“The Treasury
report,‘Financing a Private Sector Recovery’ states that SMEs are vulnerable due to their reliance on bank finance and the
problems this has caused.And the Bank of England’s own ‘Trends in Lending’ report states that ‘the flow of net lending to UK businesses remained negative in May and was more so than in April.
“So let’s not believe the hype here, business conditions are still
tough and banks are still reluctant to do deals.”
According to research carried
out by the Open University Business School earlier this year, supported by the Finance and Leasing Association,16% of SMEs needed to replace old equipment or invest in new equipment to expand but were unable to do so, with lack of finance a significant factor.The organisation said that too few businesses are exploring alternatives to traditional bank lending.
Rochdale cleaner's crush death prompts £140,000 fine News in brief
A Rochdale plastics manufacturer has been fined £140,000 after a Portuguese cleaner was crushed to death by a pallet of bags weighing nearly one and a half tonnes. TS (UK) was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive following the incident at the Stakehill Industrial Estate in Middleton for failing to ensure the safety of its employees,and not having a worker trained in First Aid on duty.
Manchester Crown Court,
Minshull Street,heard that Abel Lages was cleaning up a spillage in
the yard on 15 July 2005 when a wooden pallet,containing 55 bags of polypropylene, fell on him. The material,which is used to manufacture washing up bowls, buckets and other plastic products,is dangerous to stack as it can pour out if there is a tear in a bag,making the stack unstable. Mr Lages,38,was found trapped under one of the collapsed pallets and died from his injuries at the scene.
Cleaning industry likely to be affected by NHS cuts
The Royal College of Nursing has revealed that the NHS’s ancillary staff are most at risk from government cuts.The union fired the warning as Health trusts cut thousands of jobs as they try to deliver £20bn of savings,despite the government's earlier guarantees to ring-fence frontline services. The union says its survey of 100
NHS organisations showed that in the past six months,9,973 posts
had been lost through recruitment freezes, redundancies and staff not being replaced when they retire.In more than 25 health trusts there were plans for compulsory redundancies,while several others were closing wards to save money, and some had proposed rebranding jobs to make savings. Mark Woodhead,chairman of
the British Cleaning Council, commented:“There seems to be a
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growing gulf between the coalition government’s pledges to protect patients,and the staffing cuts being forced upon NHS trusts. Time and time again it has been proved that nurses,cleaners and facilities management staff play a key role in keeping our hospitals hygienic,clean and safe; the British Cleaning Council is against any moves that do not reflect their importance.”
Cleaning Conference: Last few tickets remaining There are limited numbers of tickets still available for the British Cleaning Council’s Cleaning Conference,on October 5th 2010. Speakers at the event include
former Government Minister Michael Portillo.Purchase tickets at:
www.britishcleaningcouncil .org/
cleaningconference.html
London Underground contract cleaners to get minimum wage Contract cleaners working for London Underground are to be paid the London Living Wage. Transport for London announced that the staff will be paid £7.85 per hour,backdated to 1st July.
‘Pay as you throw’ ruled out Plans to let English councils charge or reward people according to their refuse have been thrown out. The government has said it plans to back rewarding people for recycling instead.
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