Did you know that there are grants available for businesses across the North East open NOW – from support with capital expenditure and creation of jobs, to setting up apprenticeships and installing EV charging points – that you could apply for?

Find out more below and contact us for further information:

• Durham Business Growth Programme
  Grants from £10,000 – £200,000 for eligible businesses investing more than £25,000 in County Durham. Grants of up to £10,000 are also available to support third party consultancy costs.
• Business Growth Fund
  This fund offers discretionary grants from £20,000 up to £300,000 for businesses investing in Northumberland, North Tyneside, Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland local authority areas.
• Northumberland Small Business Service
  This service can offer grant support from £10,000 to £300,000 to small businesses in rural areas of Northumberland who are investing in capital expenditure.
• North of Tyne Inward Investment Fund
  Supporting new inward investors into Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland local authority areas. This fund can offer grant support of between £100,000 and £1m on eligible projects. (Investments must be linked to job outputs)
• Made Smarter Adoption
  Support and funding opportunities for small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses in the North East LEP and Tees Valley LEP areas.
  • Grants of up to £3.5k available for expert technical advice
  • Grants of up to £20k available for purchases of new software and/or equipment (up to 50% of the overall cost)
• RTC North
  Grant funding to support innovation and new ideas for businesses e.g. from expansion, developing new products/services, leadership development and getting help with strategic planning and skills. Must be based in the NELEP area, have an annual turnover of less than £50m, operate in an ERDF eligible sector and have fewer than 250 employees.
• Electric Vehicle Infrastructure grants (Workplace Charging Scheme)
  This grant is for small and medium-sized businesses to provide money off the cost of wider building and installation work that’s needed to install multiple charge point sockets. The grant covers 75% of the cost of the work, up to a maximum of £15,000. You can get up to £350 per chargepoint socket installed and up to £500 per parking space enabled with supporting infrastructure.

• Tees Valley Apprenticeship Grant (£500 – £3000 per apprentice)
  This grant supports SMEs who create Apprenticeships in sectors facing high demand and growth from employers as identified in the Tees Valley Strategic Economic Plan, e.g. Advanced Manufacturing Process, Chemicals and Energy, Logistics, Health and Biologics, Digital and Creative, Business and Professional Services, Construction, Health Care, Culture and Leisure and Education.

If you would like more information on any of these opportunities, contact us on 0191 211 1450 or email info@ccbsg.co.uk.

Our Christmas elves have appeared! Find out who likes sprouts, who’s hoping for a diamond under the tree and who’s favourite tune is Shakin’ Stevens on our LinkedIn Page.

Find out your elf name at: What’s Your Elf Name? – Elf Name Generator 2023 (christmascountdown.uk)

Are you worried about your current or upcoming tax obligations? If so, specialist lending to cover tax obligations may be the working capital solution for you and your business – and CCBS Group can help. You might not be familiar with it yet, but tax funding is becoming an increasingly popular option for businesses, with lenders developing tools and refining their products to ease the burden of untimely tax bills.

Let’s take a closer look at the tax funding solutions we can offer:

VAT Funding

VAT Loans are short-term loans specifically designed to cover VAT liabilities, providing you with the necessary funds to meet your VAT obligations on time, typically in 2 or 3 capital payments.

VAT Bridging Finance is used to bridge the gap between a business incurring a VAT expense and subsequently reclaiming it, often in property transactions with a VAT liability as part of the purchase. The lender funds the VAT payment to HMRC and directly receives the proceeds of the VAT claim.

R&D Tax Funding

The R&D Tax Relief scheme offers tax for companies engaging in research and development. However, your company might still require funding to cover your R&D expenses. One option to consider is R&D Tax Credit Advance, which is an advance loan against your expected R&D tax credit refund. Repayment goes directly to the lender who would then distribute any proceeds after deduction of interest and fees.

We recently helped a well-established automotive business who had been impacted by COVID-19 and the subsequent supply chain issues by providing them with a £300,000 R&D Tax Bridging Loan. The funding was made available in 14 days and the client was delighted to have obtained additional headroom in facilities, particularly in such challenging trading conditions.

Corporation Tax Funding

Similar to VAT, you might face challenges in managing your Corporation Tax payments, especially if you have irregular or seasonal cash flows. Corporation Tax Loans can help you to meet your Corporation Tax obligations and are often structured to align with your company’s tax payment schedule over 12 monthly payments or less.

Which type of tax funding would benefit your business the most? Vote now below. VAT Corporation tax R&D Powered by Typeform

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It’s important to note that if you’re looking at this type of funding, it’s best to engage well ahead of time. So, get in touch with CCBS Group today – we’re here to help take the stress out of your tax obligations and give you honest, straightforward advice about the best funding options for you and your business.

Liam Kane is the MD and owner of TAB and has over 30 years’ experience working with SMEs across the UK. He has been facilitating Peer Advisory Boards in the North East since 2021, and is a qualified Executive Coach passionate about supporting local business leaders. He tell us all about the benefits of having an alternative board in our latest blog…

As a business owner do you ever feel like you have no one to talk to about the issues that you are facing in your business?  I suspect the answer to that question may well be yes and in those circumstances what do you do?

Help and support may well be at hand via The Alternative Board.  To give you some background, at The Alternative Board (TAB) we have cultivated a thriving community of forward-thinking business leaders who share collective wisdom and inspiration to radically improve performance in ways that change their lives.

For over 30 years, we have been helping leaders and their teams improve their business and change their lives. We do this in a couple of ways:

1. Peer Advisory Boards

As a business leader, all too often the big decisions fall to you and you alone, but it doesn’t have to be like that. Each month a small number of like-minded leaders meet to help one another make better and faster decisions.

But the boards are a lot more than that…

• They provide an environment to receive honest, supportive, and non-judgmental advice.
• You are surrounded by your peers who are on your side, emotionally invested in you, and want to help you succeed.
• You have dedicated time to work ‘on’ your business rather than ‘in’ it, giving you the opportunity to be strategic rather than tactical.

2. Business Coaching

Private one-to-one coaching sessions to give you renewed clarity, keep you accountable to achieve your goals and become an even more successful leader, allowing you to live the life you work for. Feedback from clients in the Northeast reinforces the value in working alongside a coach who’ll:

• Listen to you without judgement.
• Empathise with you.
• Challenge you using great questions.
• Support you without directing.
• Encourage you to think and reflect.

3. Gain Accountability, Expertise and Momentum

Joining TAB means joining other busy entrepreneurs committed to giving and receiving the candid guidance that can only come from peers following the same path. Tap into the power of like-minded leaders, leverage global membership insights, run your business more strategically and outpace your competitors. For more information, contact me, Liam Kane, on 07368 534427 or lkane@thealternativeboard.co.uk.

When should you use a debt recovery service? 

• The time to use a debt recovery solution is when your invoice is due for payment.
• So, whatever your payment terms are, if that’s 30 days, then a soon as 30 days has expired, consider using CC Recovery Solutions.
• This won’t be an aggressive chase and as it’s completed correctly this should work with you as an extension of your business in order to maintain client relationships. 

Why do debt recovery services have a bad reputation? 

• Debt recovery can be a taboo phrase but ultimately it shouldn’t be.
• Debt recovery is simply about recovering what you are due when you provided a service.
• CC Recovery Solutions can be used to recover invoices that are due on time maintaining good client relationships.

Who Are CC Recovery Solutions?

• CC Recovery Solutions are a sister business of CCBS Group.
• Formed in 2017 to offer clients help and assistance with debt recovery.
• Find out more – Commercial Debt Recovery and Receivables Management – CCBS Group

In what ways are CC Recovery Solutions different? 

• It can be used as an extension of your credit control arm, or we can act in the placement of a credit control team if you don’t have one.
• This is done by highlighting to your customers that invoices are outstanding and in a lot of cases this will be enough with letters being sent out along with phone calls, texts, and emails.
• We have found we have a very high success rate in recovering balances owed which doesn’t need to be aggressive although we can certainly escalate that upon instructions from the client.
• See our latest successes here.

What steps do CC Recovery Solutions take to ensure business relationships are maintained? 

• It’s about ensuring invoices are chased in a consistent and timely manner when they fall due and ensuring correspondence that we send out on your behalf is professional.
• Professionality goes into every approach that we take, and we don’t take steps without the client’s instruction in order to maintain comfortable client relationships.

How much experience does CC Recovery Solutions have in recovering debts for clients? 

• CC Recovery Solutions have decades worth of experience, more importantly we have clients who trust us with their credit control and come back to us. As an extension of the credit control service, we also have experience in dispute resolution.

Once you decide to use CC Recovery Solutions, we handle everything. Contact us today to have an initial chat with our team.

Renewing a company vehicle or buying additional commercial vehicles can be a big burden on top of everything else you’re juggling day-to-day…

Things to consider…

• How much flexibility do you need?
• Do you have much of a deposit?
• Do you want to own the vehicle at the end of the finance term?

We can take that weight off your shoulders and source your vehicle/s and arrange finance tailored to your business, just tell us what you need or want, and we’ll source the vehicle and share the potential finance options with you.

We recently helped…

If we can help your business with vehicle finance or sourcing, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team using our form or email info@ccbsg.co.uk.

So Graeme, what is Invoice Finance?

Invoice Finance is a product used to help maintain cashflow, it provides advances of up to 90% of a company’s debtor book – what customers owe you essentially – which provides you with a long-term cashflow solution. And as we all know, cashflow is critical for all businesses, at all times!

What are the benefits of invoice finance?

There are a lot of benefits – so many that it’s even overtaken overdrafts as the working capital solution of choice for many businesses and funders. For example, the only limit to the funds you can access is the total of the invoices you exchange – not like strict caps on bank loan lending policies. That means the product grows as your business grows, meaning it can provide a long-term solution. It can also nurture business growth as you’ll have a steady flow of cash rather than waiting for invoices to be paid before the funds are available, or banks to make lengthy funding decisions – so you can continue to build your business without any delays.

What types of businesses can access invoice finance?

It can really be used by any sized company from SME through to enterprise-sized businesses and there are even specialist IF providers which can support niche companies or specialist industries. For example, some lenders offer construction or contractual sector-specific lends to support businesses in certain sectors or with complex business models or financing.

What else can Invoice Finance be useful for?

It can also be used to support CapEx, acquisitions or buy-outs, or event-drive finance too. So if you’re going through a change, and you have concerns about its impact on your working capital, invoice finance can be a good solution to explore.

Can you tell us about a recent invoice finance deal you’ve been involved with?

It’s not a one-size-fits-all landscape so it’s really critical that you understand what will be required to implement Invoice Finance, what the risks are, and which funder can best meet your needs. We recently supported a longstanding client who was expanding operations into Australia after two successful expansions in the US and Canada. We found a global funder who could support them with a £200,000 Invoice Finance solution that gave them the cashflow headroom to drive forward their plans.

How can business owners find out more?

If this strike a chord with you, definitely get in touch with us. We can find out about your specific situation and give you honest guidance as to whether IF is the right solution for you, or whether something else would be a better fit for your circumstances.

We were proud to see one of our deals win Corporate Finance Deal of the Year 2023 at the North East Accountancy Awards earlier this summer.

As you will know we are not corporate finance advisors, but we collaborated with Gateshead-based TIG Corporate Finance on the transaction which supported a Management Buy-Out of Washington-based NA College.  Barry Gill, Managing Director at TIG, provided corporate finance advice to the vendor and CCBS sourced the funding through Shard Credit Partners, who facilitated the transaction. It involved a number of corporate partners working together and this collaborative approach is what led the judges to award it Deal of the Year.

Mr Gill said of the win: “It was an important deal for the region and one I am personally proud to be part of. Investment for the MBO was supported by Shard Credit Partners and led to a female-led board of directors taking control of NA College whilst the ownership of the company remained in the North East.”

Peter Cromarty of CCBS Group said: “It was a real pleasure to work on this deal with the management team, TIG Corporate and Shard Credit Partners to deliver a great deal all around. I look forward to seeing the business go from strength to strength.”

Business Protection is not something that we generally talk to clients about (and not products that we offer) but following a recent meeting the whole topic of Business Protection came into much finer focus.

Some food for thought…

Key Person Insurance

• There are often key individuals that make a big contribution to the success of a business.
• Losing one can have a serious impact on the financial health of the business.
• Key Person Insurance is designed to help protect your business against just such an eventuality.
• SME insights (SME State Of The Nation research conducted by Legal & General): –
• 70% of business owners believe that they would cease trading in less than 2 years with the loss of a key person.
• 59% think that they would cease trading within 12 months.
• 60% of businesses said that they had 3 or more key people.

Ask yourself – how many key people are in your organisation and how would the business be impacted if it lost a key person or worse still key people? Would this cause you an issue?

If the answer to that question is yes, then please click here for advice from our trusted partners.

Income Protection

• For many business owners becoming unwell or suffering an accident which prevents them from working is a significant threat.
• Fortunately, insurance products do exist to protect you from the risk of loss of income.
• You could receive up to £25,000 per month.
• Dividends can count as income.

Ask yourself – statutory sick pay is £99.95 per week for a maximum of 28 weeks. If you were unable to work, could you survive on that amount.

If the answer to that question is no, then please click here for advice from our trusted partners.

Business Loan Protection

• If a business owner dies or suffers terminal illness, lenders may have the right to demand that any outstanding loans are paid back.
• Business Loan Protection can provide peace of mind because it provides a lump sum to cover your business loans. This can include commercial loans / mortgages as well as director’s loans and personal guarantees.
• SME insights (SME State Of The Nation research conducted by Legal & General):-
  • 80% of business owners have not taken out any insurance to ensure that directors loans could be repaid.

Ask yourself – have any individuals provided guarantees for business borrowing? If the answer to that question is yes, then please then please click here for advice from our trusted partners.

Private Medical Insurance

• Business health insurance or private medical insurance (PMI) is a policy that provides access to private health care for small business owners , their employees and families.
• SME insights (SME State Of The Nation research conducted by Legal & General):-
• 47% of UK employees see medical insurance as a key part of an employee benefits package

Ask yourself – Might health insurance improve the wellbeing of your team and reduce absences?

If the answer to that question is yes, then please click here for advice from our trusted partners.

The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) was a lifeline for businesses during the pandemic, providing much needed working capital.  However for some businesses CBILS is now causing headaches when seeking additional finance or refinance due to the security issues that arise with CBILS facilities.

Lenders that have secured loans against a business’ assets – such as through an all assets debenture – may be unwilling to release the security when the business seeks additional funding. This means that businesses may find it difficult to obtain additional financing or refinance existing facilities, potentially jeopardising their growth prospects and long-term sustainability.

As financial professionals and business owners, it’s essential to understand the security issues surrounding CBILS loans and the impact this has on businesses. While there’s no easy solution, exploring alternative financing options or negotiating with lenders could be a viable option for some businesses.

One potential step forward is the ability to transfer CBILS loans between financial institutions. While this is not currently possible, it’s something that could be considered in the future to help businesses access the finance they need while maintaining existing security arrangements.

In the industry, we must work together to find solutions that support the growth and success of our clients. This may involve exploring alternative financing options, negotiating with lenders, or advocating for changes to the CBILS scheme to enable loan transfers. By doing so, we can help businesses navigate these uncertain times and emerge stronger on the other side.