News

Finance and Credit

April 10, 2012 10 Apr'12
Palo Alto in $175m IPO bid

Network security vendor Palo Alto Networks has taken the first step along the road to going public, filing a registration statement with the SEC ahead of an IPO that it is thought could value the fast-growing enterprise firewall specialist at as ...
April 05, 2012 05 Apr'12
Gartner revises quarterly IT forecast down on dollar fears

Worldwide IT spending now looks set to hit $3.7tn (£2.3tn) for 2012, up 2.5% on 2011 but down by 0.2% on previous estimates, according to Gartner's latest market outlook.
April 05, 2012 05 Apr'12
UK economy pulls back from brink of double dip

Fears of a double dip recession have receded slightly after the latest UK Services Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) from Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchase and Supply (CIPS) showed the economy grew at its strongest rate in the first ...
April 03, 2012 03 Apr'12
Cashflow problems threaten to stall SME growth ambitions

Cashflow continues to be a problem for businesses struggling to get through the recession and could be holding back growth.

March 27, 2012 27 Mar'12
Lord Sugar weighs into credit debate

Lord Alan Sugar has decided to share his views about SME credit describing most of those that are rejected for credit as 'skint' and not worth the backing of the banks.
March 22, 2012 22 Mar'12
Channel failing to take up credit

Computer 2000 has indicated that it has more credit available for the channel with millions not being used by partners. The distributor has around £1bn available for credit to pass onto resellers but currently only around £400m of that ...
March 21, 2012 21 Mar'12
Chancellor uses Budget to talk up investment in verticals

The Chancellor has outlined plans to create the conditions to encourage business to invest pledging in his Budget to plough spending into infrastructure and to back key industry sectors that should deliver growth.
March 20, 2012 20 Mar'12
Budget wishlist includes tax changes and more SME support

With the Budget just a day away the industry has made its wishes clear asking the Chancellor to simplify taxes and provide more support for tech start-ups. In addition there have also been calls for the greater use of open source to cut costs and to...
March 20, 2012 20 Mar'12
Government unveils details of SME credit easing plan

Details of the government's plans to ease the supply of credit to hard pressed SMEs has finally been unveiled a day before the Budget. The National Loan Guarantee Scheme is offering firms with a turnover below £50m with access to money at a ...
March 15, 2012 15 Mar'12
Weak UK economy highlighted as concern by Datatec

Datatec has described the state of the UK economy as weak as it revealed the state of its own fiscal finances in a trading update.

March 13, 2012 13 Mar'12
Slow start to the year on the tech M&A front

M&A activity in the tech market continues to struggle to get going this year as last month continued to show 2012 had started quietly.
March 09, 2012 09 Mar'12
Government caps contracts to aid SME suppliers

The government has taken further steps to ensure that it becomes easier for small firms to sell into the public sector.
March 07, 2012 07 Mar'12
Credit card fraud drops as industry fights back

Credit card fraud numbers have revealed a drop in that type of crime with resellers being praised for their vigilance in fighting criminals.
March 07, 2012 07 Mar'12
SME credit dominates pre-Budget agenda

The issue of SME credit is already starting to dominate the political agenda even before the Budget sets out the details of plans to help ease the flow of funds to smaller businesses.
March 05, 2012 05 Mar'12
SMEs walking away from seeking credit

Fewer small businesses are bothering to apply for loans and overdrafts but those that do are often successful revealing a mixed picture in the SME credit landscape.
February 29, 2012 29 Feb'12
Rogue reseller employees in £123k procurement fraud

Rogue employees of resellers Bytes Software and Nettitude have been collared for collusion in a £123,000 conspiracy to defraud Lincolnshire-based grocery co-operative Nisa Today.
February 29, 2012 29 Feb'12
Syscap appoints Asset Works to track public sector IT

Syscap is aiming to prod education and public sector clients sitting on out-of-date technology into investing in kit through a partnership with the Asset Works.
February 29, 2012 29 Feb'12
Tech Data hit by strong dollar and weak global economy

Tech Data has blamed the performance of the dollar against foreign currencies as one of the contributing reasons for a lower year-on-year performance in its fourth fiscal quarter.
February 27, 2012 27 Feb'12
IT firms holding up as enterprise insolvency rates rise

The number of IT firms falling into insolvency has remained stable at the start of this year compared with how things ended in 2011. The latest monthly figures from Experian show that 35 IT firms hit the wall last month, a 0.04% increase on the same...
February 22, 2012 22 Feb'12
CBI unveils Budget wishlist with call for tax reforms

With the Budget looking on the horizon business groups have started to make their wishes known to the Chancellor as they look to try and get measures included that will support SME growth.
February 21, 2012 21 Feb'12
Northamber reports half year loss as MD Matthews retires

Northamber has given an indication of how difficult trading has been in distribution revealing that improvements it reported late last year have stalled as the economy weakens.
February 21, 2012 21 Feb'12
Business optimism rises but investment continues to lag

Business owners are feeling more optimistic about the prospects for profits and growth this year, although the shadow of a double dip recession is still hovering.
February 15, 2012 15 Feb'12
Tech M&A activity dips in volume and value

The year started fairly quietly from the mergers and acquisitions perspective with the absence of any large deals. The latest survey of the M&A market from Regent showed that the there was a 20% drop in the number of deals in January compared to ...
February 13, 2012 13 Feb'12
Banks fail to deliver promised credit

The high street banks have failed to deliver the level of credit to SMEs that the pledged as part of Project Merlin. The banks were meant to hand out loans totalling £76bn last year but figures from the British Banking Association revealed ...
February 06, 2012 06 Feb'12
SMEs in the firing line as banks cut lending

Credit for SMEs is set to become an even bigger headache as the volume of lending from the major banks drops. A warning sounded by Ernst & Young groups SMEs along with those individuals with credit problems as likely to be the hardest hit as loan ...
January 27, 2012 27 Jan'12
Government called to think again about protecting creditors

The government's decision to abandon plans to make pre-pack administrations harder to enter into have been criticised for failing to protect creditors and vulnerable suppliers.
January 27, 2012 27 Jan'12
Avnet Q2 brings greater profit returns for distributor

Despite booking a very slight year-on-year dip in sales to $6.69bn (£4.27bn), Avnet CEO Rick Hamada was in bullish mood as he looked back on his first six months in charge, a period that saw improving profitability at its VAD division Avnet TS.
January 27, 2012 27 Jan'12
M&A and public sector on agenda as Trustmarque aims higher

Infrastructure and software VAR Trustmarque has revealed it may look to make larger acquisitions, potentially of similar sized businesses to itself, as it aims to build on the most successful 12 months in its 24 year history.
January 24, 2012 24 Jan'12
Insolvencies remain stable despite challenging economy

The IT population remained fairly intact during the tough times of last year with the number of insolvencies holding firm compared to the levels of 2010.
January 23, 2012 23 Jan'12
Project Merlin fails to deliver credit to SMEs

SMEs continue to struggle to get their hands on credit through the scheme that was set up last year with the aim of improving the flow of funds to small businesses.
January 16, 2012 16 Jan'12
Tech M&A activity bounces back after poor start to Q4

The tech mergers and acquisition market across Europe stabilised last month bouncing back after a drop in deals over the autumn.
January 13, 2012 13 Jan'12
Economy on the brink as output drops and confidence slumps

The UK economy is on the brink of another recession with both manufacturing and services suffering falls in output and business confidence slumping.
January 12, 2012 12 Jan'12
UK decline offset by European growth at Computacenter

Computacenter has revealed the UK market continues to be sluggish with revenue declining over the course of its fiscal year by 13%.
January 03, 2012 03 Jan'12
SME support over credit and red tape still on 2012 agenda

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has called for more support for entrepreneurs and a cutting of red tape in its New Year's message.
January 03, 2012 03 Jan'12
Customers fear Eurozone crisis sparked recession

The New Year has started with the less than cheery forecasts from financial directors with half expecting a recession to kick in as the Euro crisis hits the UK economy.
December 12, 2011 12 Dec'11
Contingency plans must be in place if Eurozone crisis deepens

The Eurozone crisis is something that CIOs must be preparing to deal with now according to one of the major analyst houses which has raised staff morale and supply chain risks as some of the problems that could emerge.
December 07, 2011 07 Dec'11
Eurozone crisis leads to dip in tech M&A activity

The number of European technology mergers and acquisitions tumbled month on month in November as the worries over the state of the Eurozone influenced buyers.
November 30, 2011 30 Nov'11
Insolvencies rise as economy remains fragile

The level of insolvencies across the economy, and in the IT sector, rose last month slightly as the tough conditions continued to have an impact on firms.
November 29, 2011 29 Nov'11
Osborne confirms £40bn SME credit fund

The Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed the establishment of a £40bn credit easing scheme to underwrite bank loans to small firms as one of the main actions announced in the Autumn Statement.
November 28, 2011 28 Nov'11
Government credit easing fund could reach £40bn

With just a day to go before the Chancellor stands up and delivers the Autumn Statement it's already becoming clear that there should be billions of more pounds worth of credit for SMEs on offer.
November 25, 2011 25 Nov'11
Osborne under pressure to deliver in Autumn Statement

With just a few days to go before the Chancellor stands up and delivers the Autumn Statement the pressure is on for him to deliver some indications he will help with confidence and growth.
November 24, 2011 24 Nov'11
Micro-P looks to unlock reseller orders with finance package

Micro-P has unveiled a financing package for resellers in a bid to unblock the orders that would come through if credit was more readily available.
November 18, 2011 18 Nov'11
Lawyers and recruiters fuel Q3 IT spending

Resellers have been advised to target their firepower on the business services sector as spending in that vertical is performing well.
November 18, 2011 18 Nov'11
Northamber keeps eye on costs as gross margins drop

Northamber has given a clear insight into life for a distributor in the current economic climate with overstocking and falls in average selling prices making life difficult.
November 14, 2011 14 Nov'11
Small business lending drops

The level of credit that banks are providing to SMEs has declined despite the best efforts of the government to force them to increase the flow of cash to smaller firms.
November 11, 2011 11 Nov'11
European tech M&A spending stable

Things remain stable on the technology mergers and acquisitions front across Europe although there were only a couple of $1bn plus deals in the last month.
October 31, 2011 31 Oct'11
Bank profits grow but calls for SME lending continue

The banks are being urged to do more to lend to small businesses with signs that where possible the finance sector is giving finance to those larger firms it deems to be safer bets.
October 28, 2011 28 Oct'11
Ingram Micro sales helped by favourable currency rates

Favourable currency rates have helped Ingram Micro to report a 7% increase in Q3 EMEA sales, despite the adverse effect of economic conditions on consumer demand in many European countries. Softer demand in Europe contributed to a decline in EMEA ...
October 23, 2011 23 Oct'11
IT firms see fewer failures in September, says Experian

IT firms saw a slight fall in the rate of insolvencies during September, bucking current trends, according to financial services firm Experian. Experian counted 53 IT companies through the pearly gates last month, representing 0.05% of the ...
October 20, 2011 20 Oct'11
Kyocera Mita hopes to spark spending with finance package

Kyocera Mita has launched a finance programme to give resellers more of a chance getting customers to splash out on hardware and document management solutions.
October 20, 2011 20 Oct'11
Banks still not doing enough for SMEs

The banks have long been criticised by resellers, customers and politicians alike for failing to provide enough credit and support for cash-strapped firms and the situation shows little sign of improving.
October 18, 2011 18 Oct'11
Weak European economy hits Ingram Micro

European economic problems and weak trading in Australia prompted a cut in earnings from Ingram Micro despite the distributor raising its sales projections.
October 12, 2011 12 Oct'11
Small firms warned to keep up guard against CNP fraud

Small businesses have been warned to keep up their defences against fraudsters despite the level of cardholder not present (CNP) fraud dropping to the lowest level for 11 years.
October 05, 2011 05 Oct'11
Cardholder not present fraud drops as criminals turn to other scams

The tide is turning in the fight against cardholder not present fraud, which has cost the channel millions over the last few years, with the amount of money lost as a result of that kind of fraud dropping for the first half of this year.
October 03, 2011 03 Oct'11
Osborne sets out plan to ease business credit

The challenge of helping businesses get access to credit continues to stir political debate with the Chancellor George Osborne using his speech at the Conservative Party conference to outline more measures to help cash-strapped firms.
September 30, 2011 30 Sep'11
IT insolvencies rise as financial strength weakens

The number of IT firms hitting the wall has risen slightly despite things improving in other areas of the economy with large enterprises holding firm in the face of ongoing uncertainty.
September 28, 2011 28 Sep'11
Milband's anti-predator business strategy given thumbs down

The Labour Party leader's attempt to set out a strategy criticising predatory businesses has been given the thumbs down by some in the business and tech world. Yesterday in his speech to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Ed Miliband attacked...
September 26, 2011 26 Sep'11
IT investment critical to future European competitiveness

European countries risk falling behind emerging economic rivals by 2020 unless businesses begin to match US levels of ICT investment, according to a new study from comms provider AT&T and research outfit Oxford Economics.
September 19, 2011 19 Sep'11
SMEs still struggling to get banking credit

Business Secretary Vince Cable might have taken to the stage at the Liberal Democrat conference today detailing plans to put more pressure on banks to lend to SMEs but the vast majority still feel left out in the cold over loans.
September 13, 2011 13 Sep'11
Brand Protection top priority when protecting payment data

Protecting brand and revenues are the drivers pushing retailers towards embracing the credit card data compliance requirements, writes Linda Endersby.
September 12, 2011 12 Sep'11
HP's Autonomy deal keeps M&A activity going

Mergers and acquisitions watcher Regent has reported a significant number of deals last month with the HP billion dollar move for Autonomy taking the lion's share of the headlines, writes Linda Endersby.
August 24, 2011 24 Aug'11
IT sector failure rates rise but large customers hold firm

The number of IT firms hitting the wall rose slightly last month year-on-year as the number of insolvencies across the economy as a whole increased only slightly with large companies holding firm in the face of uncertainty.
August 18, 2011 18 Aug'11
Tech Data shrugs off European market malaise

Tech Data's European operation has shrugged off an increasing sense of malaise in the IT market to grow its second quarter sales 30% - 14% on a Euro basis - to $3.75bn (£2.28bn), well over half of the distributor's global revenues.
August 09, 2011 09 Aug'11
SME green interest undermined by red tape

Going green might be the answer to help combat rising utility bills and presenting resellers in a positive environmentally friendly light but.
August 08, 2011 08 Aug'11
SME owners turn to personal cash to stay afloat

Close to half of UK small business owners have injected personal cash into their firm to stay afloat as the cost of doing business in Britain remains high and banks continue to keep their wallets shut.
August 08, 2011 08 Aug'11
Tech M&A activity holding up

The world economy might be on the brink but the mergers and activity in the technology space continued apace with a decent number of deals struck in the last month. For the third successive month the number of purchases went past the 250 mark with ...
July 29, 2011 29 Jul'11
Banks under pressure to meet SME loan commitments

Bank lending commitments to small businesses under the Project Merlin initiative are likely to come under renewed scrutiny when they report their half year results next week.
July 29, 2011 29 Jul'11
Ingram Micro mulls EMEA redundancies

Ingram Micro CEO Greg Spierkel has told analysts the distributor may look to take "actions" on costs and people in EMEA during the coming months as the firm keeps a keen eye on its costs in the region.
July 18, 2011 18 Jul'11
Siemens Financial Services launches VAR finance programme

Siemens Financial Services (SFS) is rolling out a new reseller-focused financing programme pitched at all partners of its parent's various brands.
July 15, 2011 15 Jul'11
Softcat breaks through £200m revenue mark

Softcat is planning to hand out cake and beer to staff after breaking through the £200m revenue mark in its financial year, beating its own forecasts.
July 12, 2011 12 Jul'11
Zycko managing director spearheads MBO

Networking and comms distributor Zycko has been sold off to a management buyout spearheaded by the group's managing director as the founder of the company Rory Sweet moves on.
July 11, 2011 11 Jul'11
Fear over bank rejection leaving SMEs without funds

SMEs appear to be losing confidence with the banks with a significant number not even bothering to apply for loans despite the fact they need the funds.
July 08, 2011 08 Jul'11
Caan expresses fears over SME security

Symantec has been offering small business partners and customers the chance to quiz former Dragons Den star and entrepreneur James Caan to get advice from the multi-millionaire.
July 07, 2011 07 Jul'11
Investment doubled for Tech City

The Tech City Launchpad competition for East London hunting for innovative and creative digital businesses is now looking for 20 firms to receive a £100,000 grant instead of the original 10, writes Linda Endersby.
July 07, 2011 07 Jul'11
Results on Target for component distributor

Yorkshire based distributor Target Components has announced record results for year ending 31st March 2011, with pretax profits of £700K, writes Linda Endersby.
July 04, 2011 04 Jul'11
Caution remains as tech sector failure rates remain stable

The IT sector continues to show stability in the number of firms hitting the wall showing its resilience and well placed position compared to some other areas of the economy.
June 30, 2011 30 Jun'11
Worldwide IT spend on track for 7% growth in 2011

Global IT spending remains on course to grow 7.1 per cent this year, say Gartner analysts in their latest quarterly spending forecast, with cloud computing spend growing fastest of all.
June 29, 2011 29 Jun'11
Resellers told to name and shame late payers

Resellers are being urged to anonymously name and shame late paying companies to try to pile the pressure on those trying to stretch out clearing invoices.
June 24, 2011 24 Jun'11
Data is the new oil? That's just too much

Judging by Google, there seem to be a lot of people around at the moment who are opening their presentations with the bold statement that "data is the new oil".
June 02, 2011 02 Jun'11
Cisco adds partner rebates to extended EasyLease scheme

Cisco's financing arm, Cisco Capital, is to extend its EasyLease low rate financing programme through to the end of July and added five year deals and up-front rebates to the scheme.
June 02, 2011 02 Jun'11
Ingram Micro to offer £100K SMB credit limits

Broadline distributor Ingram Micro has announced a major expansion of its CreditBuilder + programme within the UK and will now offer credit facilities of up to £100,000 to SMB resellers over a 12 month period.
May 31, 2011 31 May'11
Finance not seen as problem for optimistic mid-market

Smaller firms might still be struggling to get credit and blame the banks for keeping too tight a grip on the purse strings but in the mid-market there appears to be more optimism around the chances of getting finance.
May 26, 2011 26 May'11
IT failure rates stable as health of SME sector improves

The number of IT firms hitting the wall has stabilised with the number of insolvencies last month dropping slightly year-on-year.
May 24, 2011 24 May'11
Project Merlin fails to increase bank lending

No surprise the banks are failing to increase lending to small companies despite the much heralded "Project Merlin" agreed with the UK government back in February.
May 24, 2011 24 May'11
Banks failing to lend small firms the funds they promised

The banks are continuing to fail to provide credit for small businesses and are set to miss the targets they agreed with the government to start providing money to cash strapped firms.
May 23, 2011 23 May'11
Europe shines in upbeat quarter for Tech Data

European sales shone for Computer 2000 parent Tech Data in the first quarter of its fiscal 2012, which closed on April 30.
May 19, 2011 19 May'11
Growth fund unlikely to deliver for majority of channel

The impact of the government's business growth fund is expected to be minimal on smaller resellers as most would prefer to stick with traditional methods of getting access to finance.
May 19, 2011 19 May'11
2e2 cuts back borrowing on strong Morse profits

ICT services provider 2e2 has reduced the level of its bank borrowing on the back of profits contributed by Morse, which it acquired last year.
May 13, 2011 13 May'11
M&A tech activity stabilises following strong Q1

The health in the tech mergers and acquisitions market across Europe continues to perform well up but has started to show signs of stabilisation after a very strong first quarter of recovery.
May 11, 2011 11 May'11
Datatec questions strength of UK economic recovery

Datatec, the South African ICT powerhouse behind network sector stalwarts Logicalis and Westcon, has lamented the state of the economic recovery in the UK as it announced audited results for its fiscal 2011, which closed on 28 February.
May 11, 2011 11 May'11
Lenovo extends credit to help cash constrained users

Lenovo Financial Services is extending credit facilities to resellers across the UK and France as it looks to exploit the upswing in attitudes towards leasing.
May 09, 2011 09 May'11
Sir Peter Rigby continues to show the wealth in reselling

There are few things in life that remain certain but the ability of Sir Peter Rigby to top the wealth charts in the channel has been a constant over the last few years.
April 26, 2011 26 Apr'11
Cost cutting days end as users look to IT to support growth

The time of leaning on technology primarily as a cost cutting aid appear to be coming to an end with customers looking to IT as a means to support growth.
April 18, 2011 18 Apr'11
Pacey launches credit management consultancy

Credit guru Eddie Pacey has launched a channel consultancy to provide advisory services for resellers, distributors and vendors.
April 08, 2011 08 Apr'11
Tech M&A activity continues to accelerate

The recovery in the M&A tech markets continues to accelerate with the number of deals up by 20% month-on-month in March.
April 07, 2011 07 Apr'11
IT insolvencies tumble in February 2011

The IT sector showed more solid evidence of the recovery during February, with sector insolvencies down 48% year-on-year, according to the latest Experian Insolvency Index. Just 39 businesses went to the wall in the second month of the year, down ...
March 24, 2011 24 Mar'11
Budget 2011: Red-tape cutting and skills support welcomed

The Budget has been given a cautious thumbs up by business groups keen to see the skills gap addressed and restrictions on small companies eased.
March 23, 2011 23 Mar'11
Budget 2011: Corporation tax cut by 2% from next month

The Chancellor George Osborne has said that it is determined to support the private sector and has announced plans to cut and simplify taxes and is looking to merge income tax and national insurance to reduce costs for firms.
March 23, 2011 23 Mar'11
Budget 2011: Weak Q4 and price rises hit growth forecasts

The government has outlined plans to reform the economy to encourage growth arguing that it has already taken the measures to provide economic stability. Chancellor George Osborne used his second Budget to talk up the positive after using the ...
March 18, 2011 18 Mar'11
Banks need to simplify lending process to ease credit flow

With the budget just five days away the Chancellor has been called on to do more to ease small business lending to free up credit and access to funds for struggling SMEs.