News

• The British Business Bank Small Business Finance Markets Report[i] recently highlighted that while Solicitors rank second to Accountants when SMEs seek advice on new finance, the likelihood of SMEs seeking external advice has grown year on year – the study found that 47% are very likely to pay for independent advice to help them obtain finance. The report also identified a small but significant jump in the percentage of SMEs aiming to grow substantially in 2019.  While many business want to focus efforts on debt recovery to aid cashflow, the proportion of SMEs seeking external finance has remained stable with an uplift amongst micro businesses. 

• A Personal Guarantee puts your personal assets such as your home and savings on the line to settle a debt if you default on the loan

• The 2019 British Bank Business Report[i] paints a worrying picture of the risks small businesses take to secure finance for their business. 

Personal Guarantee insurance can support a solicitor’s duty of care to the directors and owners of SMEs

You need to be a very confident person to put up your personal estate as collateral when taking out a loan. Some business directors will sign a Personal Guarantee even if it makes them feel uncomfortable. For others, it’s deemed too much of a risk.

• SMEs endeavouring to plan for Brexit will be looking carefully at cash-flow to gauge how much pressure they can take without additional borrowing.  The main concern is that day to day running costs will rise – this might be due to material costs going up, wage bills increasing as the migrant workforce reduces and higher warehousing costs for stockpiled goods. 

• More than 1 in 4 UK SMEs are planning to raise finance just to keep their head above water a new survey^[i] has revealed. The research carried out by Purbeck Insurance Services, the UK’s only insurance provider to offer Personal Guarantee insurance found 28% plan to use finance to improve cash flow and this is currently the main reason for securing a business loan or new form of finance.

As predictions have emerged of an upsurge in borrowing demand from SMEs[i] if a ‘no deal’ Brexit occurs, owners of small businesses are being urged to fully acquaint themselves with the terms of a personal guarantee backed loan, before signing on the dotted line.

• Purbeck Insurance Services, the UK’s only provider of Personal Guarantee Insurance offers tips on the facts to check when raising finance through a personal guarantee backed loan.

• If you run a business you know about risk taking.  The personal risk the owners of SMEs take to get their business started, to keep it going or to expand may go with the territory but also to a large extent goes unnoticed and unappreciated by the staff they employ.  That’s just how it is running a business. Nevertheless it can be lonely at the top and can seem even more so when financial pressures start to tighten.