A successful transport company reveals the best road to debt avoidance. There are certainly no traffic jams in the accounts department caused by credit reports, as company accounts controller reveals the secret of successful credit checking. Click here to download the LP road map to credit management.

HELLO! Magazine is revealing everything about credit risks. No, not a fleshy exposé, but a real case story on how Riskdisk has helped the popular publication avoid bad debt risks. Click here to download the juicy bits.

When the banks claimed that they are lending plenty of cash to small businesses, the new Business Secretary, Vince Cable suggested that their assertions were ‘misleading’. He also said, ‘All the evidence from business; the Institute of Directors and other bodies, clearly reveals banks are not lending as much as is needed.’ Cable went on to say,” forcing the banks to change their practices would be a key test of the coalition.”

So how does Mr Cable plan to persuade the banks to lend more? The Treasury and the Business Department is launching a consultation this week to discuss whether or not it’s a good idea to impose lending targets on the semi-nationalised banks, but Vince Cable reckons that this doesn’t go far enough. Instead he has called for ‘mandatory action’ to force Lloyds and RBS to lend. It will be an interesting battle of wills

We would be very interested to hear from small companies that have struggled to obtain bank funding for new projects or business expansion.

The credit crunch could make an unwelcome return. According to the Bank of England Credit Conditions Survey for Q2 2010, a significant change of mind has occurred in the big banks, and there are significant indications that lending for both business and household use could be tightening up significantly.

Business lending looks to be hit hardest. Three months ago 25% of banks reported that commercial lending would rise, but the latest survey reveals that only happened in 7.1% of cases, which means that actual lending growth is the worst since October 2008, when the entire banking system was on the verge of collapse.

Reasons for the figures are believed to be tied to the end of Quantitative Easing and new fears over the Euro. Banks are perceived to be hanging on to their spare cash rather than lending it to other banks. The outcome is that banks will be forced to pay more to borrow funds and as a result will undoubtedly lend less for higher rates.

It will certainly be worth keeping abreast of the situation and ensuring credit worthiness is high on the list when it comes to dealing with new business prospects or even existing customers.

Small businesses in the UK have suffered the largest quarterly rise in costs since the data measure was first introduced in 2005 according to the Business Inflation Guide (BIG), a quarterly measure of small business inflation, created by MORE TH>N BUSINESS in collaboration with Warwick Business School.

The likelihood of banks stepping in with loan assistance is also looking distinctly unlikely despite government pressure to increase lending.

The BBC has received 545 complaints about the sound of the African vuvuzela horns during its World Cup coverage. Now the corporation is testing methods of filtering out the insistent drone of the vuvuzelas on its red button service. A stadium ban on the plastic horns, which can reach 130 decibels, has already been ruled out.

However, acoustic experts say it is impossible to cut out the sound of the horns without affecting the commentary or crowd noise. Sounds like earplugs for the final then.

At Riskdisk we’re sorry to say that we can’t block out the noise of the vuvuzelas either, but we can put a block on that other racket – those companies trying to gain credit when they really should by paying bills.

We’re blowing our own trumpet here, but our online credit checks and FREE Hypermonitoring service will certainly cut out the worst offenders. Call us to test the service or click here for a FREE trial.

Andrew Moss at building and landscaping specialist material suppliers, Living Stone, has discovered a rock solid way of checking the credit risk potential of the company’s prospects and customers. Download the complete case history here.

In the first Queen’s Speech of the new coalition Government the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has  welcomed moves to safeguard jobs and supporting the UK economy through abolishing the proposed increase in NI contributions as well as the proposed investment in high-speed broadband.

The FSB, representing the interests of small businesses has been calling for a simplification of the tax system for some time and continues to urge the Government to implement measures which are clear and specific and fully evaluated, to ensure that small firms are not unduly burdened with excessive taxation. The coalition move to reverse the planned increase in National Insurance Contributions for employers has been welcomed and will help safeguard up to 57,000 jobs.

More than half of small businesses in the UK rely on the internet for up to 50 per cent of their annual turnover, so the Government plan to support investment in new high-speed broadband internet connections is also very good news for businesses. A speedy and reliable broadband service, especially in rural areas, would help small firms develop their businesses and become more efficient.

Vince Cable has launched the Government’s drive to reduce business regulation, which is currently stifling growth. A review is taking place of all regulation in the pipeline for implementation, which has been inherited from the last government.

The business secretary pledged a new approach that will control and reduce the burden of regulation.  A ‘one-in, one-out’ approach, will make sure that any new regulations are only implemented when equal reductions can be made to the existing regulation. 

Cable said: “The deluge of new regulations has been choking off enterprise for too long. We must move away from the view that the only way to solve problems is to regulate.”

British Chambers of Commerce responded to the news, “BCC research shows new employment regulations over the next four years will increase business costs by over £11 billion – so the announcement of an immediate review of all red tape in the pipeline is very welcome.”

According to research, UK small businesses currently spend £2.4 billion on employment law, £2.1 billion on health and safety administration and £1.8 billion on tax.

At Riskdisk we believe anything that will reduce the burden on business administration has to be good news.

M2R Limited is an International Recruitment Consultancy with firmly established business ties in the UK and Middle East. The company is now a major force in the recruitment industry.

MD Munir Mamujee revealed “In our business we find that it is more likely to be the smaller clients that will default, so the cost of obtaining credit references needs to be taken into account when choosing a credit reference service provider.”

This is why we chose Riskdisk. We like the instant information and the ability to grant credit based on accurate information rather than a whim.

For more details of M2R’s approach to credit references click here.