We have listed below our archived commercial briefings. Should you wish to read our latest commercial
briefings please click here.
September 2005
Contract hire and leasing companies which operate networks of vehicle finance brokers are to be rewarded for the first time at the NACFB awards with a new award that recognises excellence in the vehic...
September 2005
SME service sector new business orders and employment levels in the third quarter of 2005 were the lowest since Q2 2003, according to the 'PKF SME Index', a quarterly survey of 800 SMEs in the constru...
September 2005
Gordon Brown could revive the British economy by cutting tax on business, rather than raising taxes to fill the looming gap in his public spending plans, according to the FPB.
The announcement come...
October 2005
UK economic growth slowed in the third quarter of 2005, official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed.
The ONS reported that GDP rose by 0.4% in the three months to S...
October 2005
The number of R&D intensive, middle-sized UK companies has increased by more than 75% over the past four years and there are 100 more UK companies with R&D over £300,000 than last year, according to t...
October 2005
The UK inflation rate rose again in September, driven by higher fuel and transport prices, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Consumer prices rose 0.2% on the month, pushing up the an...
October 2005
Science and Innovation Minister, Lord Sainsbury, has announced the migration of 19 Faraday partnerships over to the new £40 million business support product, Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTN).
Desi...
October 2005
Small business owners and managers want a finance provider to be 'flexible', "approachable' and 'personal', according to new research carried out by Bibby Financial Services. According to the survey, ...
November 2005
Buy-to-let investors have soared by 50%, making up 12% of those seeking buy-to-let mortgages compared with last month\'s 8%, research from Mortgages Direct, the financial subsidiary of Haart estate ag...
November 2005
More and more businesses are seeking advice before starting up, the Annual Small Business Survey has found. The survey, which polled over 7,000 small and medium sized businesses, shows that 73% of new...
November 2005
The National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) has held a meeting between representatives of the major banks on the future of commercial finance regulation.
The meeting, held in Lon...
November 2005
The Bank of England will keep interest rates on hold this month, but slow economic growth may cause a further reduction at the end of this year or the beginning of 2006, finance experts have predicted...
November 2005
The latest survey conducted by specialist buy-to-let lender, Mortgage Trust, reveals that the number of buy-to-let landlords buying rental properties is double the number that are considering selling ...
November 2005
The BBA's monitoring of the main banks involved in the SME market reveals that term lending rose by 18% during the year and has reached £32 billion.
Other findings show that overdraft lending saw a...
November 2005
SMEs handle £28 billion in coins and notes every month, according to a survey commissioned by Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank (ALBC). The survey, which examined cash usage throughout the UK, foun...
December 2005
APACS, the UK payments association, has issued December spending predictions, which show the first fall in credit card spending in more than a decade.
The negative forecast has been issued despite ...
December 2005
A major survey of small to medium sized firms has found that asset finance has replaced bank loans as the second most popular form of finance after cash.
The findings are revealed in a survey analy...
December 2005
The latest Hometrack survey of the national housing market shows average house prices are unchanged over the month.
This is the first time in 16 months that the survey of 7,500 agents across over 2...
December 2005
Government moves to restrict the small firm loan guarantee scheme (SFLGs) to companies with less than five years trading have been slammed the trade body representing small businesses
The Forum for...
December 2005
The planning system is struggling to meet the needs of business four years on from ministerial pledges to improve the service, according to a new report from the CBI
The report, Planning Reform: De...
December 2005
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision to hold base rate at 4.5% was to be anticipated, claimed lenders
The move to keep the base rate on hold comes as no surprise to econom...
December 2005
TNearly half of new business underwritten went to SMEs to enable them to acquire assets to help grow their businesses according to an annual business survey
Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) publ...
December 2005
Long-term property investors will welcome the latest prediction that by 2008, house prices will have risen by 8%
The value of property will rise by 4% in 2006 and 2007 respectively, according to th...
December 2005
Overall demand from occupiers of commercial property is expected to rise over the next six months at a similar rate to the last, according to the survey of property trends published today
But risin...
January 2006
Almost nine out of ten entrepreneurs believe their business will be better off or remain the same in the next 12 months, according to a Bank of Scotland survey.
A third of entrepreneurs intend to r...
January 2006
House prices have started to rise again for the first time in 15 months, according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) housing market survey published today.
The survey re...
January 2006
November proved to be a month of equals in the hotel industry, with London and the regions posting almost identical fluctuations in occupancy and rooms yield, according to figures released today by PK...
January 2006
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has praised the "remarkable" stability of the UK economy, despite a housing market slowdown and rising fuel prices.
The IMF also forecast economic growth would...
January 2006
Latest figures from the Major British Banking Groups, for last month revealed that total sterling lending to the UK private sector showed a net underlying increase of £11.1bn (+1.0%) to £1,146bn. This...
January 2006
Women-owned businesses contribute £70 billion to the UK economy, according to DTI Minister for Women and Equality.
Enterprises run by women form about 25% of the UK total, mainly from the growing s...
February 2006
The commercial property market reported increasing returns up by 18.8% in 2005, according to F&C Property Asset Management.
Its market review showed total returns running at a 24% annualised rate i...
February 2006
Lending to non-financial companies rose by £13.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005, according to the Bank of England.
Research has shown that the largest factor behind this move was an increase...
February 2006
Investors are being lured by strong rental yields of 6.5 - 9% in student and commercial property, reports investment specialist, Assetz.
January saw a burst of activity in the property investment m...
February 2006
Landlords' appetite for investment is reaching new highs, the latest survey from Mortgage Trust, the specialist buy-to-let lender, has revealed.
Confidence in the housing market, and stable interes...
February 2006
Buy-to-let lenders advanced a record 130,400 loans in the second half of last year, an increase of 39% over the preceding six months, according to data released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML...
February 2006
Consumer price inflation in the UK fell to 2% in December last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported this week.
The quoted figure is the lowest rate since June and brings inflatio...
March 2006
Two thirds of UK construction companies expect their sector to grow in 2006 with the majority of growth from new housing
These are the results of accountants and business advisers, PKF's latest sur...
March 2006
Lenders are urging the Chancellor Gordon Brown to reform the £7.5 billion housing tax bill in this month's Budget.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said this month’s Budget represents an oppor...
June 2009
The West Bromwich Building Society has reached an agreement with debt-holders to boost its financial strength. This will interest many of its commercial mortgage clients.
The society's difficulties...