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Business Debtline’s 16th Birthday sees doubling of Bankruptcy calls
As Business Debtline (the only service in the country which provides free business debt advice to small businesses and those who are self-employed – see note to editors) celebrates its 16th anniversary of providing free and independent debt advice to small businesses and sole traders, the Money Advice Trust (which runs Business Debtline) released the following statistics:
 The number of callers enquiring about bankruptcy has more than doubled in the last 12 months. There has also been a growth in the incidence of clients seeking advice on bad debts and late payers
The number of clients helped by Business Debtline has increased by 63% (January – June 2008 compared to the same period in 2007)
A survey of Business Debtline clients found that 70% felt more in control of their finances and felt that as a result they were less likely to get into problems in the future.
88% of clients who had negotiated affordable repayment schemes with their lenders had maintained these arrangements.
The birthday celebrations are being held today at Business Debtline’s offices in Birmingham. Ambassador for the Money Advice Trust (MAT) and Radio 4 presenter Liz Barclay along with the charity’s president The Rt. Hon Ian McCartney MP are hosting today’s birthday celebrations.
Joanna Elson, Chief Executive of MAT said “We are delighted to be celebrating 16 years of Business Debtline. Given the current economic climate, it is perhaps now more important than ever that small businesses have access to quality, free, independent debt advice.”
Liz Barclay, MAT’s Ambassador, praised the charity’s work “As the last recession was over 16 years ago, many current traders will have no experience of trading through such a dramatic economic downturn. I therefore strongly support their excellent work and I am delighted to be here to celebrate their 16th anniversary”.
The charity’s president The Rt. Hon Ian McCartney MP also expressed his support. “I am immensely proud of the work that our advisers at Business Debtline are doing – every day they help to keep people’s heads above water by giving crucial advice to those most in need. The service Business Debtline provides is so important because for every business that survives, another job survives.
“From all at Money Advice Trust I would like to say how grateful we are to our funders as well as our staff. Without the generous support of the banks and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform we would not be able to help the thousands of small businesses who will contact us in 2008 and in the years to come”. (Please see notes to editors for a list of our current funders).
Business Minister Shriti Vadera said "Business Debtline has helped thousands of businesses survive through financial difficulty over many years. The advice and support it offers to businesses, particularly small enterprises, is essential at this critical time. That is why this year the Government doubled the amount of funding for the service, helping more businesses to continue trading as they face more challenging economic conditions. I would like to congratulate Business Debtline for 16 years of good work."
Paul Mullins, Chief Executive of Business Debtline said “Our latest figures show the demand for business debt advice is increasing as many small businesses have had a difficult couple of years with the flooding and foot and mouth outbreaks last summer”. He continues “Our figures show a 38% increase in trade shortfall between 2007 and 2008 and the number of callers enquiring about bankruptcy has more than doubled in the last 12 months. Many businesses are feeling the effects of the credit crunch and the slowdown in the economy as households up and down the country start to reduce their spending”. (Please see Notes to Editors for further Business Debtline caller stats.)
If you would like any further information about Business Debtline please contact:
Beccy Boden Wilks on 0121 410 6277 or email beccybw@nationaldebtline.co.uk (Press Officer)
Note to Editors
The Money Advice Trust (MAT) is a charity formed in 1991 to increase the quality and availability of money advice in the UK. MAT’s vision is to contribute to reducing unmanageable debt of UK consumers and its mission is to support individuals in the UK with unmanageable debts and to improve the capacity, quality and efficient delivery of free-to-client independent money advice, through:
Co-ordination
Influence
Direct service provision (Business Debtline and National Debtline)
Training
Research
Information provision.
Business Debtline Funders
Abbey Business
Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank
Bank of Scotland
Barclays
British Banker’s Association
Clydesdale Bank
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
HSBC
Lloyds TSB Business Banking
National Australia Bank Group
NatWest
The Co-operative Bank
The Royal Bank of Scotland
Yorkshire Bank
Top Tips from Business Debtline
Business Debtline would like to offer the following early advice to small businesses that may be facing difficulty;
Prepare a monthly budget and forecast showing the money coming in and going out of the business
Highlight from the budget/forecast the overheads which can be reduced. These may include changing to alternative suppliers, moving to cheaper premises or even trading from home, changing banking facilities
Tighten up your credit control systems by reviewing your payment terms
Generate income and ease your cash flow worries by looking at networking/ marketing/ diversifying your product/ reviewing your pricing/ applying for benefits which you may be entitled to
Seek advice from Business Debtline, the only free, impartial and confidential telephone advisory service in England, Wales and Scotland that helps businesses with their debt problems
This service is available between Monday and Friday 9.00 – 5.00 on freephone number: 0800 197 6026.
Clients will be able to use this service to:
Prepare a business budget.
Prioritise all debts.
Deal with court proceedings.
Understand bankruptcy and limited company insolvency.
Avoid repossession of home and business.
Negotiate with creditors, bailiffs or sheriff’s officers.
Deal with most other debt and cash flow issues that an individual and the business may face.
Business Debtline also offers a range of self help materials which are also available on their website www.bdl.org.uk.
If you would like any further information about Business Debtline please contact:
Beccy Boden Wilks on 0121 410 6277 or email beccybw@nationaldebtline.co.uk (Press Officer)
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