Table of Contents
Overview
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- What you need to know
- Economic overview
- Business health
- Special focus: B2B finance
- What’s next?
Economic Overview
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- Annual GDP growth falls to six-year low in 2018
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- Figure 1: Annual GDP growth rate, 2014-18
- Bank rate remains at 0.75%
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- Figure 2: Bank rate, 2008-18, by date of adjustment
- CPI rate hits two-year low…
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- Figure 3: Consumer Price Index, January 2018-January 2019, (12-month rate)
- …which has boosted wage growth
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- Figure 4: Average weekly earnings, total pay, January-December 2018, Great Britain
Business Health
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- Although 85% of small businesses’ finances are ‘healthy’ or ‘ok, many miss out on business opportunities due to a lack of funding
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- Figure 5: Current finance situation of the business, June 2016 vs June 2017 vs June 2018
- Business turnover rebounds in 2018
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- Figure 6: UK business turnover, 2018, at the start of the year, by business sector
- Insolvencies rise for third consecutive year
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- Figure 7: Company insolvencies in England and Wales, Q3 2016-Q4 2018
- Business investment levels fall and profitability continues to stagnate
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- Figure 8: UK PNFCs net rate of return, Q3 2016-Q3 2018
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- Figure 9: UK total business investment, Q3 2016-Q3 2018, (chained volume measures and not seasonally-adjusted)
Special Focus: B2B Finance
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- Net lending remained positive in 2018
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- Figure 10: UK MFIs’ net loans to non-financial businesses, Q4 2016-Q4 2018, by size of business, (not seasonally adjusted)
- Credit availability and demand falls in 2018
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- Figure 11: Availability of corporate credit to PNFCs in the past three months, Q3 2016-Q4 2018, by business size
- Write-offs on loans to non-financial companies fell to an eight-year low in 2017 but are expected to have risen in 2018
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- Figure 12: Write offs of loans to PNFCs from banks and building societies, Q3 2016-Q3 2018, (not seasonally adjusted)
What’s Next?
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- Businesses plan to reinvest profits to develop and to increase the cash held in reserve
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- Figure 13: Business owners' plans for their business' finances over the next two years, June 2018
- Business confidence reaches a decade low at the start of 2019
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- Figure 14: Business Confidence Index, Q1 2018-Q1 2019
- General consensus suggests slower economic growth
- Purchasing Managers’ Index Surveys
- Increasing threat of no-deal Brexit driving change in company strategy
- Businesses responding to potential loss of passporting rights
Appendix – Data Sources, Abbreviations and Supporting Information
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- Abbreviations
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