Two thirds of small firms (66%) plan to make some form of investment in their business by 2024, but under half (49%) feel they are fully aware of the different types of financing options available to them, new research has found. Federation of Small Businesses’ (FSB) new report, Credit Where Credit’s Due, draws together findings which paint a concerning picture around access to finance for UK small businesses, and calls for action to stop the lending gears from grinding to a halt – as happened after the 2007 credit crunch – which, if history is allowed to repeat itself, would risk undermining the country’s economic recovery. Three in five small firms (59%) have applied for finance over the past five years, although the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic meant the proportion of businesses taking on debt – many of them for the first time – grew. Small and medium-sized enterprises are now collectively carrying around £36 billion more in debt than they were in January 2020, pre-Covid. Access to finance is vital for the small business sector as a whole, allowing firms to invest and grow. Finance options are also vital to keep small businesses afloat in choppy waters due to the cost of doing business crisis, skyrocketing energy costs, supply and travel disruption, and the ever-present scourge of late payments. However, only two in five small businesses (38%) say they feel it is easy to find answers to their questions on financial applications, with three in ten (29%) saying they thought that unfair clauses and provisions were included in applications. Meanwhile, the success rates of finance applications have dropped precipitously since the Covid loans era, with under half (46%) of applications successful in Q3 2022, compared with a pre-Covid success rate of nearly two in three (64%). The smaller a business is, the less likely its request for finance is to be approved, FSB research found. The interest rates offered to small business customers have also risen, with nearly a third of small firms who applied for finance in Q3 2022 offered a rate of 10% or above. In light of the findings, FSB is urging the Government, financial regulatory bodies and other stakeholders to take action to improve the financing landscape for small businesses, to give them more choice and clarity around the options available to them:

• The Government should reverse direction from its announcement on Research and Development tax credits at the Autumn Statement that will seriously reduce spending on R&D by SMEs in the UK economy.
• The Government should introduce a VAT-based capital investment incentive, to drive up the amount of small business investment in a faster, simpler way, rather than the outgoing big business-friendly super-deduction.
• The British Business Bank should encourage the use of the Bank Referral Scheme, where lenders are required to share details of SMEs they reject for finance, so those businesses can be approached by alternative lenders, and should also expand the number of banks and approved alternative lenders in the scheme.
• The Financial Conduct Authority should reverse its decision to move fees and levies to a regressive flat-fee system, which discourages smaller finance providers from entering or remaining in the market, and ultimately limits the range of finance available to small businesses.
• The Start Up Loans scheme should be expanded from 11,000 to 15,000 loans per year, to encourage more people to give entrepreneurship a shot.
• The Business Banking Resolution Service needs to adequately address outstanding cases and clear its backlog, passing on compensation and delivering value for money. The deadline for historic cases also needs to be extended beyond February 2023.
• All future capital allowances should include second-hand capital purchases, to allow small businesses to offset the cost of upgrading their machinery without the requirement of the asset being new. A piece of equipment could be second-hand, but could still represent a significant upgrade to a small firm, helping them to boost their productivity.
• The Government should announce that the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme will not be closed down in 2026, to provide greater certainty and longevity to users of the scheme’s investment plans. The investment limit for the scheme should be uprated in line with inflation each year.

Martin McTague, FSB’s national chair, said: “Small businesses that cannot access finance are small businesses that are cut off from opportunities to grow and expand. It’s that simple. “As a country, we cannot afford to have a repeat of the post-credit crunch scenario, where the dreams of thousands of entrepreneurs and business owners were crushed by a withdrawal of finance options, leaving them unable to continue, and deepening the UK’s economic woes. “Many small firms now are in a highly precarious position, carrying debts from the pandemic, with the Bank of England raising the base rate, and with funding options getting scarcer and costlier. “Our report pulls together various strands which together add up to a worrying picture of potential devastation, if the situation is allowed to drift. “There is, luckily, a lot that can and should be done by the Government and by other bodies to improve the funding landscape for small firms, getting productive capital into businesses with enormous potential for growth. “Reversing the recent, disastrous decision to cut R&D tax credits would send a strong signal that the Government is listening to what small firms need, and is backing the deep wells of innovation and enthusiasm which exist among start-ups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses alike. “The recently announced consultation on late payments – a dead hand around the throats of millions of small firms, cutting off their cash ‘oxygen’ and causing vast amounts of unnecessary and unethical stress – is a positive step, although we know what needs to be done: the audit committees of large corporates need to publish details of payment practices in their supply chains in their annual reports. What’s stopping the Government from acting now, rather than after a months-long consultation period? “Ultimately, small firms are looking for signs that they won’t be punished for looking to invest and expand. We’ve set out a comprehensive programme which would transform small businesses’ finance options, boosting economic growth and empowering entrepreneurship – it’s now up to the Government to move from words to deeds, to get vital funds to the small businesses who will transform them into new products, new jobs, and new premises, providing fresh hopes of recovery amid the economic gloom.”

Mattioli Woods, the wealth management and asset management business, has hailed growth in revenue and profit before tax in a trading update in advance of its interim results for the six months ended 30 November 2022. It comes “despite the difficult economic and political complexities that persisted throughout the period.” Revenue was up 10% to £54.9m at the Leicester firm, rising from £49.9m in the same period of the year prior. Gross discretionary assets under management (AuM) meanwhile saw a 4% decrease to £4.9bn. Outlook for current year remains in line with management’s expectations.

Ian Mattioli MBE, Chief Executive, said: “The group delivered creditable revenue and profit before tax growth in the first six months of this financial year, despite the difficult economic and political complexities that persisted throughout the period.

“Our revenue model balances fee-based revenues for specialist advice and administration with revenues linked to the value of clients’ assets on an ad valorem basis, which has allowed the group to continue to grow and experience less sensitivity to movements from challenging investment markets.

“We continue to focus on securing good financial outcomes for our clients and putting them first in everything we do, whilst at the same time achieving both organic and acquisition based growth, and I am pleased to report further progress towards our medium-term goals. In the reporting period. The group has maintained profit margins through prudent cost management and in realising further operational efficiencies.

“Our pension and consultancy, employee benefits and private equity operating segments performed strongly during the period. Clients’ demand for advice and proactive communications by advisers with our clients in such uncertain times resulted in an increase in advisory time, with the value of new clients on-boarded in the first half over 10% higher than the equivalent period last year. The success of our new business initiatives and the strength of existing client referrals resulted in organic revenue growth of over 2%, despite a 2% fall in the value of total client assets.

“Our Maven private equity business made further strong progress during the period, enjoying healthy levels of new deal flow across all segments of the business, leading to increased transaction based revenues. Pleasingly joint-fundraising with the group became a feature of two recent Investor Partner deals generating significant fees through combining people talent and access to capital. Maven continues to enjoy a strong deal pipeline with a number of new tender opportunities during 2023 across the UK.

“Our investment and asset management business, like many others in the sector experienced some pressure on asset values, but our multi-asset funds continue to offer the highest level of diversification as we seek to manage volatility in these difficult investment markets.

“Our discretionary managed funds performed in line with their benchmarks and represented a combined value of £4.9 billion at the period end, including more than £1.0 billion managed by the group’s associate, Amati Global Investors. For the first half of the year, gross inflows into our discretionary managed funds were £314.1m (1H22: £384.8m), net inflows of £38.1m or 0.8% of opening AuM, with the balance of AuM influenced by market movements. 

“During the period we continued to successfully integrate acquired businesses and our clients into the group. Of the nine acquisitions the group has made since July 2020, all are trading in-line or ahead of budget, and have delivered earnings to support full payment of any contingent consideration, building upon our track record of 34 successful acquisitions to date.

“Consolidation within the wealth management, pensions administration, asset management and financial planning sectors continues apace, and we continue to assess a strong pipeline of potential acquisition opportunities, with a disciplined approach, where all transactions are required to meet our strict investment criteria.

“Our trading outlook for the remainder of the financial year is in line with management’s expectations and the group remains well-positioned to deliver long-term sustainable shareholder returns.”

Sales during the Christmas period have exceeded expectations at Enderby-based Next. In a new trading statement for the 9 weeks to 30 December, full price sales were up 4.8% versus last year. This was c.£66m better than Next’s previous guidance of -2% for the period. Next have increased their profit before tax guidance for the year by £20m to £860m, up 4.5% versus last year. The retailer however is cautious about the year ahead (to January 2024), forecasting sales to be down 1.5% and profit before tax down 7.6%, as cost pressures hit.

Chesterfield’s Global Brands Limited has purchased the Hooch, Hooper’s, and Reef trademarks from Molson Coors Beverage Company. The brands have been produced and distributed by Global Brands since 2012 and will now form parts of its owned portfolio. This sale to Global Brands will mean Global Brands own the brands and can now focus on them as part of their own portfolio with all the freedoms that brings. Nino Beneta, Managing Director of Molson Coors Export and License EMEA & APAC, said: “We are excited to see Global Brands progress in growing these brands over the last decade and look forward to seeing the continued success and growth of the Reef, Hoopers and Hooch brands going forward. “Moving forward as an EMEA & APAC Export and License team our focus will continue to be on a select portfolio of key international brands such as Coors, Staropramen, Carling, Madri Excepcional and Blue Moon.” Steve Perez, chairman and founder of Global Brands, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Hooch, Hooper’s and Reef brands as fully-fledged members of the Global Brands family. This will give us the opportunity to invest further into the brands with the added security of owning the equity. “We re-launched Hooch in 2012 at the Publican Awards with Keith Lemon and reinvigorated the brand, with new flavours and focus. Hooch is a staple of the RTD category sold by major retailers, and is a popular, well-loved brand. This deal will reinforce Global Brands’ position as the leading independent producer of RTD brands in the UK. “We have lots of ideas for innovation and look forward to sharing these with the trade and consumers shortly. We have enjoyed a fantastic supportive relationship with Molson Coors over the years and look forward to continue working closely together through their route-to-market team. It’s an exciting start for GBL in 2023!” Hooch, Hooper’s, and Reef join the expanding Global Brands portfolio – which includes VK, the biggest RTD brand in the On Trade, Franklin & Sons, the 2nd biggest premium tonic brand in the On Trade, and All Shook Up, Shake Baby Shake, Beviamo, Kick Energy, Lustre, and Amigos Tequila Beer. Global Brands are the biggest branded supplier of packaged cocktails to the UK Off Trade (by volume).

EV Cargo, a global freight forwarding and supply chain services company, has acquired, via its Burton subsidiary Palletforce, Hastings-based Dobbs Logistics from its founding family owners. Formed in 1961, Dobbs Logistics has a long history of providing pallet distribution, general haulage, project cargo and warehousing services for its customers. The acquisition further strengthens the Palletforce network, providing members with a stable and trusted service partner in a key location. Directors Stephen Morgan, Kevin Manser and Lynton Manser and their management team will continue to lead the business post acquisition. Mark Tapper, chief operating officer, EV Cargo Express and Palletforce, said: “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Dobbs Logistics, the undoubted sector-leader in its area, and welcome our new colleagues and customers to the Palletforce network. Dobbs Logistics not only meets our best-in-postcode criteria, giving our members a competitive edge, but also strengthens our overall service proposition in the Southeast for members and customers. “We made a commitment to our members that we would put them, and their customers, front and centre in our business. In achieving that we’ve focused intently on quality service, adding 12 new members in 12 months, and continuing our investments in technology, infrastructure, and sustainability.” Stephen Morgan, Dobbs Logistics Managing Director, said: “EV Cargo’s recognition of Dobbs Logistics as the unrivalled operator in the region is thanks to our reputation for quality and the hard work and dedication of everyone across our business. “EV Cargo’s Palletforce network is renowned for excellence, and we are delighted to join a business which puts its members and customers first. We are looking forward to further developing our services, business proposition and securing the long-term future of the business.”