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June 3, 2020

Cynergy Bank now offering CBILS

Cynergy Bank is pleased to announce that from today it will offer the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) to new business customers, having launched the scheme for existing customers in late April 2020.

Following the British Business Bank’s announcement in April 2020 that Cynergy Bank – along with three other ‘challenger’ banks – had become part of the government’s emergency coronavirus lending, the bank has already received applications from existing customers which they are in the process of supporting and will result in over £30m in CBILS lending.

The bank will now provide extra financial support for medium sized businesses across the UK, who are not currently its customers. Cynergy Bank will typically provide loans from £1m to £5m to new customers.

This scheme is designed to support UK based small and medium-sized businesses, with a turnover of up to £45m, who have a viable business proposition but are facing challenges as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. As the bank that focusses on business owners, entrepreneurs and family businesses, Cynergy Bank has specific expertise and knowledge to provide banking solutions required whatever the economic circumstances.

Commenting on the launch of CBILS, Nick Fahy, CEO of Cynergy Bank said:

“I am delighted we are now able to offer the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme to both new and existing customers. As long-time advocates of business owners, property entrepreneurs and family businesses, we want to be able to support them through the good times and the bad. Understandably, the UK and global business community is facing a challenge like none we have seen in our lifetime and we are eager to do our bit in supporting our business customers – this scheme will allow us to do just that.

“We stand ready to support customers across the UK and we expect the loans we advance to be in the range of one million to five million pounds.

We put relationships at the heart of all that we do and with our participation in this loan scheme we can be there for those that need extra support during these challenging times.”

June 3, 2020

Lenders back 750,000 businesses with more than £31bn

Figures published by the Treasury  reveal how the banking and finance sector is helping businesses across the UK through these tough times.

So far, lenders have approved over £31.3bn to over 745,000 businesses through government-backed schemes. In the past week alone, more than £3.8bn in lending has been provided to 94,000 firms through these schemes. More applications have been received and are expected to be approved in the coming days.

This represents an unparalleled level of support from the industry. Since the launch of the first coronavirus support scheme in late March, over 745,000 facilities have been approved by lenders through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) in a little over two months. In comparison, an average of 275,000 loans and overdrafts were provided in total each year by the ten largest banking groups to UK SMEs over the past five years .

As of 31 May, lenders have provided £21.3bn through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), an increase of £2.8bn over the past week. Over 91,000 applications were approved in the past week.

Lenders have approved £8.9bn in support through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) to almost 46,000 businesses. This is an increase of over £750m since data was last published.

More support has also been made available for larger and medium sized businesses in the UK through the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS). The number of businesses that have received financial support increased by 191, totalling just over £1.1bn.

These government-backed schemes are just part of the banking and finance sector’s plan to help businesses in the UK through the coronavirus crisis. This extensive support includes working capital extensions, overdraft extensions, capital repayment holidays and asset-based finance, allowing businesses to access the support that is most appropriate to their needs.

Stephen Jones, Chief Executive of UK Finance, said:

“These figures show that the banking and finance sector is committed to playing its part in helping businesses across the UK through these tough times.

“The amount of support available to firms affected by the Covid-19 crisis is unparalleled. Over £31bn has been approved in government-backed lending schemes so far to almost 750,000 businesses, with a further £19 billion drawn under bank-arranged commercial paper facilities.

“But government-backed loans are not the only support the banking and finance sector has made available. Over the last few months, lenders have put in place a clear plan to support businesses in every region of the country, including through offering extended overdrafts, capital repayment holidays and asset-based finance to businesses that need support.

“It’s important to remember that any lending provided under government-backed schemes is a debt not a grant, and so firms should carefully consider their ability to repay before applying.”

 

 

June 3, 2020

Shop prices fall fastest since 2006

  • Shop prices fell by 2.4% in May compared to a 1.7% decrease in April. This is below the 12- and 6-month average price decreases of 0.7% and 1.0%, respectively. This is the highest rate of decline since our series began in December 2006.
  • Non-food prices fell sharply by 4.6% in May compared to a decline of 3.7% in April. This is below the 12-and 6-month average price declines of 1.9% and 2.4%, respectively. This is the highest rate of decline since our series began in December 2006.
  • Food inflation eased to 1.5% in May, down from 1.8% in April. This is in line with the 12- and 6-month average price increases of 1.5% and 1.5%, respectively.
  • Fresh food inflation slowed to 0.5% in May, down from 1.0% in April. This is below the 12- and 6-month average price increases of 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively.
  • Ambient food inflation decelerated slightly to 2.9% in May down from 3.0 in April. This is above the 12- and 6-month average price increases of 2.5% and 2.6%, respectively.

Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive, British Retail Consortium:

“Shop prices in May fell at their fastest rate since 2006, which was largely driven by the drop in non-food prices. Clothing and Furniture saw the biggest drop as retailers ran promotions to encourage consumer spending and attempted to mitigate recent losses. Year-on-year food prices increased slightly due to higher business costs, implementing social distancing measures and the upward pressure from labour shortages, but were down on the previous month as more home-grown produce became available. We expect to see continued upward pressure on food prices from the effects of the pandemic in the coming months, while non-food prices are likely to remain deflationary with subdued sales.

“Even as non-essential shops begin to reopen from 15 June, consumer demand is expected to remain weak and many retailers will have to fight to survive, especially with the added costs of social distancing measures. Retailers face an uphill battle to continue to provide their customers with high quality and great value products despite mounting costs. Government support remains essential, both to rebuild consumer confidence and to support the thousands of firms and millions of jobs that rely on it.”

Mike Watkins, head of retailer and Business Insight, Nielsen:

“With the retail industry coping with store closures and social distancing limitations, it’s no surprise to see shop price inflation slowing in recent weeks. Across the major supermarkets with sales growths in high single digits in May, the consumer spend on promotions has also been at an all-time low, but there has been little upwards pressure on prices. However, as we move towards summer with the importance of seasonal foods and with the supply chain still disrupted, we can anticipate some volatility in prices.”

June 3, 2020

Harpers Environmental cleans up with £2m in funding from IGF

Industrial services and waste management firm, Harpers Environmental, has secured £2m of funding from Independent Growth Finance (IGF). This invoice discounting facility is central to the company’s refinance for growth.

The company focuses on the extraction, treatment and appropriate disposal of waste, based out of two sites in York and Teesside. It serves clients across a range of critical sectors including food processing, manufacturing, petrochemicals and utilities. Clients include Yorkshire Water, Karro Foods, Sabic/lndaver and Biffa.

Finance in a fluid environment

Harpers Environmental is supporting essential services and infrastructure during the current crisis. The work undertaken by the company is a key part of ensuring that food supply chains are maintained, water treatment processes continue without Interruption, and that waste continues to be handled and disposed of in an environmentally compliant way.

The Covid-19 backdrop has inevitably resulted in a more fluid trading environment and in some rebalancing of activity across regions and industry sectors, which the company has rapidly reacted to, ensuring that labour, vehicles and machinery are in the right place at the right time to meet client requirements.

A partnership built on a genuine relationship

For the family-owned business, finding the right partner was essential. The invoice discounting facility provided by IGF is flexible enough to allow the business the headroom needed for the next stage of its growth.

Jonathan Marlow, executive director of Harpers Environmental, explains “In IGF we saw a similarly entrepreneurial, pragmatic and agile partner which fits perfectly with the direction of our business. The whole team at IGF has been superb and has moved at pace to complete the transaction, notwithstanding the challenges of the Covid-19 backdrop, and this will support our growth over the next five years.”

Confidence of delivery

Jeff Greenfield, ABL director at IGF, added “We are delighted to support the team at Harpers Environmental as they continue on their growth path. We took the time to understand the business so that there was no variance from indication of terms to the final offer. Despite the logistics challenged presented by Covid-19 we were pleased to complete this deal ahead of schedule.”

IGF commit to a speedy turnaround for an indicative offer to businesses, with the entire credit committee reviewing and committing to the indicative offer. This provides businesses with confidence of delivery, in spite of the current climate.

Jonathan Marlow, executive director of Harpers Environmental, explains, “From the initial conversation six weeks ago, to signing, IGF has been consistent and unwavering in its delivery of the transaction. Clearly any credit decision is that bit more challenging in the current environment and so deliverability is paramount from the company’s perspective.”

June 2, 2020

Glimmer of hope

The number of businesses with a positive outlook for the next 12 months exceeds the number with a negative outlook for the first time, in the clearest sign yet that parts of the economy are slowly springing to life, according to the latest wave of the Opinium-Cebr Business Distress Tracker.

However, despite the marginal improvements the UK is still not out of the woods. The latest Tracker suggests that more than half a million (544,000) businesses are at a high risk of entering insolvency as a result of coronavirus-related disruption – up from 510,000 two weeks ago.

Business Distress Tracker topline results

  • The picture varies considerably across sectors. Half of businesses (50%) in manufacturing & construction say that current trading conditions are good, compared to just over a quarter (28%) of service sector firms.
  • The survey results pour more cold water on the notion of a V-shaped recovery, as the average anticipated recovery time rises by three weeks to 31 weeks. The pattern observed in recent weeks suggests that the longer the lockdown persists, the longer the recovery will take.
  • The most commonly cited drivers of the delay in raising production are reduced demand from customers, a weakening of business-customer relationships, and reduced access to inputs necessary for production. Meanwhile, more than two-fifths (43%) of businesses are concerned about a deterioration in the skills and productivity of workers that have been placed on furlough.

James Endersby, CEO at Opinium said “Although the situation remains extremely challenging for many businesses, the easing of lockdown in recent weeks have led some to anticipate the end of prohibitive restrictions on their operations. We are far from being out of the woods yet, but the direction of travel has injected greater positivity into the business community. The number of us going back to work is accelerating and many are seeing the prospects for their business improve.

“The challenge facing us is the disjointed return to normal. Large numbers are facing disruption to demand from their customers and combined with issues further up the supply chain. Even once lockdown measures are removed business leaders still expect months of hard work until levels of production return to normal.

Pablo Shah, senior economist at Cebr said “The gradual easing of restrictions in May has helped some businesses to come out of hibernation – particularly in the manufacturing and construction sectors – while providing a more general boost to sentiment throughout the economy. Workforce measures to weather the storm – such as pay cuts and reduced hours – are being reigned in, while less than a third (29%) of businesses have a negative outlook for the next 12 months.

“The survey results suggest that many businesses have transitioned from a state of emergency to a state of heightened caution. However, the longer the lockdown lasts, the longer it will take for businesses to rebound. Among firms that anticipate needing more than a month to recover, the majority (56%) fear that financial or operational difficulties among clients or customers will affect demand for their products or services, while 51% are concerned about reduced access to necessary inputs.”

Business Distress Tracker full findings

Business insolvency risks

Although the share of businesses that feel they are safe from insolvency has risen from 58% to 63%, there has also been a small increase in the share that say there is a high risk of them entering insolvency as a result of coronavirus related disruption. These results suggest that while many businesses have been able to transition from a state of emergency to a state of heightened caution, more than half a million (544,000) remain in a perilous position.

Figure 1 Risk of entering insolvency as a result of coronavirus-related disruption

2% of firms surveyed indicated that they could not survive another month if trading conditions remain as they are currently. This marks an improvement on the situation in the previous edition of the Tracker, when 5% of firms faced imminent collapse within a month if trading conditions remained as they were.

Employment impacts

The number of businesses making workplace adjustments has remained largely stable since the second wave of the Distress Tracker. Here, 84% of UK senior decision makers state that their company has made changes to their operations because of the pandemic, compared to 83% two weeks ago. More encouragingly, there has been a sizeable reduction in the average number of employees on furlough (26% down from 32%), and there is positive news in terms of working hours – businesses say that an average of 29% of employees have had their hours reduced, compared to 32% in the second wave. Finally, wages and salaries have also seen improvements, with the average number of employees facing pay cuts down to 27% from 34%.

Business activity rates

The latest business survey was conducted between May 21st and 27 May. The results therefore provide one of the first glimpses into how the partial easing of restrictions introduced at the beginning of the month have affected different parts of the economy. On 10 May, the government updated its guidance, urging those who could not work from home to go to work. This appears to have had a significant impact on the manufacturing and construction sectors. Although profits over the past 30 days remain 28% below what would have been expected during more normal times, this is an improvement compared to the 35% shortfall in profits recorded two weeks prior to the latest survey.

Economic recovery

The results of the latest Tracker reinforce the message that the longer the lockdown lasts, the longer it will take for most businesses to rebuild once restrictions are eventually lifted. On average, businesses anticipate needing 31 weeks to return to their pre-crisis levels of production – up from 25 weeks four weeks ago. For the first time, the Tracker also examines the specific factors that will be driving this delay in the economic recovery. 56% of those expecting their recovery to take longer than a month cite concerns about demand for their products or services once restrictions are lifted, while 51% state that difficulties obtaining inputs from suppliers will limit their ability to bounce back. 52% indicate that a weakening of customer relationships will slow down their recovery, while more than two-fifths (43%) are concerned about deteriorating skills and productivity among furloughed workers.

Figure 2 Cumulative share of businesses that have returned to pre-crisis production

.

June 2, 2020

Didsbury Gin sets sights on US expansion

Photo by Jack Kirwin -JK Photography-

Dubbed ‘one of the most exciting new British gin brands’, Manchester-based Didsbury Gin has announced plans to expand into US markets as a result of £420,000 investment from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).

Launched in 2017 by gin lovers Liam Manton and Mark Smallwood, Didsbury Gin, which also made a successful pitch on Dragon’s Den in January 2019, boasts a range of six different flavoured gins.

The business received £100,000 investment from NPIF – FW Capital Debt Finance in 2019 and £320,000 in early 2020 to fulfil its retained orders with major stores and bars, including Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Wetherspoons. It also set out ambitions plans to take on more staff, grow its client base in the UK, expand overseas and bring new products to market.

Since the investment, Didsbury Gin has launched two new products and secured contracts with popular supermarket chains Aldi and Co-Op, as well as with several additional multi-site bar chains around the UK. It also doubled annual its turnover to £1.5m in 2019.

Liam and Mark have used the NPIF capital to grow the team with four full time members of staff and recruited several consultants. It is also funding the production for a large supermarket deal due to be announced in the coming months.

Currently based in a co-working space, Didsbury Gin is actively seeking new premises in Manchester to accommodate that growth and allow for future expansion.

The company is now in talks with distributors in America and is continuing to expand its product range with new partners to be announced in the coming months.

Liam Manton, co-founder of Didsbury Gin, said: “The NPIF investment came at a pivotal time for us – we had ambitious growth plans but needed more cash up front to make it happen. The funding has helped us to surpass all expectations and secure a number of significant new contracts with leading outlets, as well as bring new people on board and create new product flavours.

“To build on that momentum, we are now looking to take this success overseas and expand into wider European and US markets initially, with a long-term plan to extend that to Canada and Australia in the coming years.”

Grant Peggie, director at the British Business Bank, said: “The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund continues to provide vital funding to support innovative businesses in the North. This investment demonstrates how funding can make a real and measurable difference to businesses like Didsbury Gin, whether that is through market expansion, team growth or bringing new products to market. We would encourage other businesses across the North to consider whether NPIF finance could support their growth plans as it has done for Didsbury Gin.”

Elaine Yarwood, investment director at FW Capital said: “It’s been a pleasure to work with the team at Didsbury Gin at this exciting time in their growth, and to see them go from strength to strength. The rounds of funding we provided have enabled them to expand their product range and reach new markets. We look forward to seeing them continue their journey and to help with their future growth plans.”

Since the Covid-19 crisis hit, Didsbury Gin has halted its gin production to manufacture hand sanitisers for Greater Manchester Police.

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union, using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

For more information about Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, please visit www.npif.co.ukhttp

June 2, 2020

Nurseries secure Lloyds Bank support to stay open

A South Tyneside nursery group has been able to safeguard more than 100 jobs and secure its future after receiving a new loan from Lloyds Bank.
South Shields-based Early Learning Partnership operates five nurseries across the town, with 650 children enrolled on either private or government-backed plans.

The business was forced to close its doors in March following the government’s shutdown of schools and nurseries, and subsequently had to furlough all but a handful of staff needed to continue communications with parents and carers.

With the group experiencing a significant fall in revenue and facing cashflow issues, managing director Eammon Gribben turned to long-time banking partner, Lloyds Bank, for support and was able to secure a £200,000-loan through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

The funding meant he could pay 40% of the wages for his team of 110 – topping up the furlough grant so each person could continue to take home 80% of their salary – as well as covering other business costs.

Eamonn Gribben, managing director at Early Learning Partnership, said: “When the lockdown was announced, we immediately turned to Lloyds Bank for support and, together, we drew up plans that would help secure our business’ future.

“This new funding has helped to ease the strain on our cashflow.
“It’s also given us the confidence to look ahead to a time when we’ll be able to reopen safely. We’re really looking forward to the day when we can welcome the children back.”

Danielle Fraser, relationship manager at Lloyds Bank, said: “Covid-19 has forced many businesses to make extremely tough decisions at a time of unprecedented challenge.

“We’re doing everything we can to support businesses affected the pandemic, helping them to ride out the storm so they can continue their growth journey once some degree of normality returns.”

June 2, 2020

Aldermore funds NHS PPE manufacturer, Mauveworx

Aldermore, the specialist bank, has provided capital funding to Mauveworx, a point of sale marketing company, which has moved to support the production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for use by NHS staff in the fight against Covid-19.

Based in Dorset, Mauveworx ordinarily supply retailers with printed point of sale marketing materials but was inspired to produce face shields for NHS workers following the government’s lockdown. The company utilised its 3D designers, printers, and production team and within a week of the initial idea, Mauveworx, under a new sub-brand Medworx, began successfully manufacturing 50,000 masks. Since then, the company has scaled up production capacity further, currently producing 100,000 masks a week.

Mauveworx initially distributed its first PPE deliveries to Poole General Hospital, Dorset County Hospital and Bournemouth Hospital. The manufacturer is now continuing its efforts to supply health-workers across the country with the protective equipment they need. Their key challenge now is to find out where stock is needed most.

David Sinclair, senior relationship manager at Aldermore said: “Aldermore are incredibly proud to provide the working capital funding to support Mauveworx. During the initial onset of Covid-19, they, like many, saw their business affected overnight. But with out-of-the-box thinking and a talented team they were able to diversify, and in doing so help our amazingly brave frontline NHS workers to literally save lives! Well done to all of the team.”

June 2, 2020

Re-opening businesses at risk of cyber attacks

Thousands of businesses re-opening in the UK could be at risk of cyber-attacks say leading tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg.

David Hough, a technology specialist at the firm said: “We have all sorts of evidence that the threat from cyber criminals is rife and that they will taking advantage of re-opening businesses where they can.”

He added: “Businesses need to be as savvy as they can as they go back to work and get their systems up and running. Many of those who have reported numerous phishing emails ranging from e-mails telling taxpayers they can claim tax refunds to help protect themselves from the Coronavirus outbreak to emails which state that someone is eligible for a tax refund and then ask you to click on a link or visit a particular website in order to make your claim.”

Calvin Gan, manager of the Tactical Defence Unit at F-Secure a world-wide cyber security firm said: “Businesses are right to assume that there will be additional security risks as companies go back to the office or go back to work. Effective cybersecurity defence should be turned into a real-time, proactive, and adaptable process instead of a reactive one. Without this, we would expect to see companies shifting their cyber security posture ad-hoc or in a hasty manner when a need arises again. We already saw this as companies has to adapt to having remote workforces. Now is the time to get ahead of the game.”

He added: “Account accesses, policy and security procedure changes made to accommodate remote work should be reassessed and readjusted periodically to determine if they are still relevant.

“It’s an important reminder that that these actions and risk assessments are by no means a guaranteed way to expect 100% security. The consensus is to have organisations make risk-informed decisions that help them to be more resilient during this time of fast pace and constant changes.”

David Hough said: “ Cyber criminals will be looking to attack businesses from every angle and will be looking for weaknesses in not only the technology that they use but also the way in which they operate, especially those companies that suspended operations for a period. People will be under pressure when they get back to work to get the business going and to start generating revenue, but they need to make sure that they don’t compromise their situation by rushing and not taking the necessary steps.”

He added: “it’s not just phishing attacks, systems could have been hacked while staff were furloughed ready to be exploited when individuals return to work, and it is important that software security is up to date and that subscriptions to those have been paid on time. Businesses also need to make sure their normal control procedures are adhered to and not compromised due to individuals not attending their normal place of work. Criminals will be looking hard to see how they can take advantage of the current situation.”

Calvin Gan said: “Businesses should always be alert to possible attacks. Phishing is an ongoing issue regardless, but there is still the threat of ransomware targeting organizations through loopholes outside of the email vector. For example, servers and ports can be left unintentionally open to the internet and therefore are open to attack. Cyber criminals often rely on businesses not knowing their entire IT estate and these access points. Now is a good time to map the entire IT infrastructure to find these holes.”

He added: “Malware disguised as a popular app or software will continue to be an issue. It is imperative that staff are only allowed to download and install these from legitimate sources, like Google Play, App Store or directly from vendor website. It is better if these approved software and apps are distributed through a centralised system managed by IT.”

Gan said: “ Physical security devices like CCTV and biometric scanners which are used to protect the office should be monitored and checked more closely than before for anomalies and tampering.”

He added: “ What is normal network activity for a remote workforce may not be when they are ensconced back in the office. Whether a business has in-house or outsourced security operations, there is now a need to retrain the team to spot ‘new’ suspicious behaviours and how to take necessary action.”

David Hough said: “Whilst the digital era has already witnessed a wide variety of scams, the outbreak of coronavirus has led to a sharp increase in the number of ways individuals are being contacted by fraudsters who represent themselves as HMRC officials. We set out below a range of examples of the types of scam in circulation, with advice on how to recognise them and avoid being taken in.”

Coronavirus-specific scams

  • Emails telling taxpayers they can claim tax refunds to help protect themselves from the coronavirus outbreak
  • Text messages telling taxpayers they can claim a goodwill payment from HMRC
  • Text messages imposing a fine for leaving the house more than once.

Neither the HMRC specifically nor government more widely communicates with individuals either by email or by SMS, unless you have signed up to the relevant protocol with them. Certainly, payments that can be claimed by taxpayers or fines that can be imposed are not dealt with in this way. However, fraudsters may change the ‘display name’ on their email address to make it appear genuine.

Tax refund and rebate scams

Although these scams have been around much longer, it is worth a reminder to be wary and to reiterate that HMRC does not use these forms of communication to notify taxpayers of refunds. These scams could be in the form of:

  • emails which state that you are eligible for a refund and ask you to click on a link or visit a particular website in order to make your claim
  • text messages claiming to be from HMRC offering you a tax refund if you provide personal or financial details
  • WhatsApp messages or social media messages.

How to handle these scam messages

If you receive one of these messages:

  • Do not reply to these emails, texts, WhatsApp or social media messages
  • Do not call the phone number listed in an email or text
  • Do not click on any links or open any attachments in emails
  • Do not provide any personal or financial detail
  •  If in doubt about whether an email or text is genuine, click on/hover over the ‘display name’ email address from which you have received the email. This will show you the full details of the sender and will make it clear whether the email is from a genuine government or HMRC source
  • If you are still unsure, forward it to HMRC and then delete it. If you are in doubt about the source of one of these messages, forward it to HMRC. You can do this via email at phishing@hmrc.gov.uk or via text at 60599 (network charges apply) and then delete it.

Phone calls threatening legal action

Taxpayers have also received calls stating that they owe significant amounts of tax and that unless they press 1 to speak to a caseworker and make a payment immediately, legal action will be taken against them. HMRC do not make such calls.

If you receive such a call, disconnect immediately and report it to HMRC at phishing@hmrc.gov.uk including details of the date of the call, the phone number used and the call content.

Finally, be aware that if you receive an offer from a company to apply to HMRC for a tax rebate on your behalf, they are not connected with HMRC in any way. They will normally charge a fee which could be sizeable.

Always read the disclaimers and small print before using this kind of service.

David Hough said: “Businesses and individuals now have to be on their guard as we come out of lockdown and gradually get back to work. The governments ‘Stay Alert” statement is just as relevant to keeping us safe from an IT perspective as it is to one of health.

He added: “Attacks can come from any quarter to our PC’s, laptops, smart phones and via emails and texts. We have to be really vigilant to protect both ourselves and our businesses.

June 2, 2020

SafeCharge and Visa introduce new digital payment options for SMEs

SafeCharge, a Nuvei company, is announcing a new solution offering small businesses alternative ways to accept digital payments in response to the Covid-19 crisis. SafeCharge Local, supported by Visa, enables consumers to make payments online and over the phone whilst also providing a better consumer experience in store by reducing queues and limiting the need for close customer contact at the point of sale.

At the heart of SafeCharge Local is a digital payment solution called Paylink, which enables businesses to receive payments through the use of QR codes and secure payment links without the need for a physical point of sale terminal or an online shop. As business owners adapt to new restrictions around physical distancing, the solution offers customers an easy, fast and secure way to make payments through their mobile phones and smart devices.

Through SafeCharge Local, small businesses can choose to accept payments in two ways:

  • By generating a unique QR code or email link directing consumers to a secure page where they can complete the transaction
  • By creating a secure payment page that can be completed when consumers place orders over the phone

All payments are handled within SafeCharge’s Control Panel, an online hub enabling merchants to manage and view all their payment activity in one place, with business owners receiving confirmation of the payment once processed.

The program is easy to implement, requires no costly technical development or resources and can be used across a range of mobile devices to help provide small businesses with the flexibility to easily begin accepting digital payments and continue selling to their customers.

Philip Fayer, Nuvei’s chairman and CEO said: “Merchants have been quickly adapting their offerings and business models in order to get them through this challenge, yet even today, many small businesses have a digital gap to overcome.

“Our team is pleased to not only provide the technology to keep commerce flowing, but the professional insight and partnership required to help merchants reinvigorate their business operations using a completely new payment method, some for the very first time. The more we make it effortless for a business to grow, either locally or globally, the greater the long-term value they’ll receive.”

Yuval Ziv, MD of SafeCharge and head of global acquiring said: “Our focus throughout Covid-19 has been to leverage our technology, flexibility and industry knowledge to provide struggling businesses with the tools required to survive this crisis.

“Our principal clients are e-commerce merchants and ideally placed to adapt or potentially thrive throughout the crisis. However, as we quickly recognised the impact to the economic landscape, we wanted to help businesses at risk of bankruptcy, particularly those providing essential goods and services to their communities.

“We believe that when restrictions lift, these merchants will leverage the additional revenue stream and transform their business model to include an online presence. It’s quite probable that their customers will continue to buy with Paylink or similar means of digital payment. We are deeply committed to supporting businesses impacted by the crisis. We will get through this together.”

Dominic White, Visa’s head of merchant sales and acquiring for UK & Ireland said: “Businesses of all sizes are navigating an overnight shift to digital amidst the global pandemic. As consumers continue to embrace digital payments for their everyday spend, Visa is working with partners like SafeCharge to provide the help and resources businesses need to adapt as they rebuild for the future.”

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