SMEs paying more for loans than a year ago

According to an article on the BBC website, many SMEs are struggling to meet the banks’ stringent and restrictive lending criteria and, to top it all off, are also paying more in fees and charges than a year ago.

The annual survey carried out by the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) shows that lending is down sharply from nearly £20bn in the mid-2000′s, to just under £7bn today. And, with many financial institutions simply withdrawing from the commercial lending market entirely, their members are finding it very difficult to place business on behalf of clients. Read more…

How to cut procurement costs in the public sector

Thanks to Simon Beechinor for drawing my attention to this article on the Telegraph website, which talks about some of the pitfalls the public sector should try to avoid in delivering the £6.3bn spending cuts the government has pledged for 2010/11. Interestingly, as Simon points out on his own blog, Auditel’s Total Cost of Purchase model addresses and provides solutions for all the key issues raised in the article. Mr Maude and Mr Alexander, we await your call!