Debt Matters

A 146-year-old British footwear name has reached the end of the road for most of its high street presence. Russell & Bromley has closed 33 remaining stores and 9 concessions that were not included in the rescue deal with Next, with 400 staff made redundant and reported debts of £59.3m at the point administrators were appointed. For a UK debt collection podcast, this is not just another retail...

The UK motor finance redress scheme has hit another delay. The Financial Conduct Authority said parts of its proposed £9.1 billion compensation scheme are now suspended while legal challenges are heard. The case is expected in December 2026 or February 2027, so many consumers who expected clarity on car finance compensation may be waiting longer. What has happened? The FCA wants an industry-wide s...

In this episode of Debt Matters, we look at a serious debt story involving unlawful marketing, fake enforcement threats. On 23 June 2026, the ICO announced a £300,000 fine against Manchester-based KRA Consultancy Ltd after the company sent more than 5.5 million unlawful marketing text messages between April 2022 and May 2025. The texts promoted debt solutions to people turned down for loans, and l...

The British Council is facing a serious financial challenge as it tries to deal with a £197 million government loan created from emergency support provided during the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Audit Office says the organisation remains loss-making, has made no capital repayments since April 2024 and is not expected to return to profit until 2029-30. How the Debt Reached £197 Million The pand...

Household debt is no longer only about credit cards, loans or missed mortgage payments. For many people in the UK, the biggest pressure now comes from essential bills: energy, water and broadband. A new National Audit Office report has found that debt owed to energy and water companies has climbed to more than £7bn. At the same time, millions of customers are missing out on support that could help...

Today on Debt Matters, we are looking at a UK business debt story involving insolvency, HMRC arrears, creditor recovery and phoenix companies. What Happened? After the administration, the company’s assets were bought by a new business called PGGBR Ltd. The new company was set up by Andrew Woosnam, who had been the 99% shareholder of Premier Group Recruitment. The deal included an initial payment o...

In this episode of Debt Matters, we look at a major UK energy debt story after Ofgem’s interim chief executive Tim Jarvis warned that fewer households may need to be exempt from paying energy bills as unpaid balances push costs higher for everyone else. UK household energy debt has reportedly reached around £5.5 billion, and Ofgem has warned it could rise above £7 billion by the end of 2026 if the...

The UK Government has introduced the Small Business Protections Bill to Parliament, aiming to tackle late payments and poor payment practices. The Bill proposes a 60-day cap on payment terms, mandatory late payment interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate, and stronger powers for the Small Business Commissioner to investigate and fine persistent late payers. Main points Late payment is n...

Today, we’re looking at a major warning sign for households, energy suppliers, credit control teams and the wider UK debt collection sector. Consumer energy debt in Britain could reach £7 billion by the end of 2026 if no further action is taken. At the same time, a planned £500 million energy debt relief scheme for some of the poorest households has still not launched because of delays around legi...

Today, we’re looking at a warning sign for UK businesses, credit control teams, debt recovery teams and commercial collections. What Has Happened? BTG’s Red Flag Alert data shows that UK businesses in critical financial distress have increased by more than a third. In Q1 2026, 62,193 companies were in critical financial distress, up from 45,416 in the same period last year. That is a 36.9% year-on...

In today’s episode of Debt Matters, we look at a UK business debt story showing how late payments are putting more pressure on companies, cash flow and credit control teams. A new update based on R3’s Business Health data says late payment pressure intensified in Q1 2026. Overdue invoices rose to 17.48 million, up 3% compared with the same period last year, while 1.57 million businesses had overdu...

UK businesses are falling behind on AI in payments and collections In this episode of Debt Matters, we look at a new UK payments and collections story with big implications for credit control, arrears management, and business cash flow. UK businesses are using AI in payments more slowly than their European peers. The gap is being linked to skills shortages, uncertainty around regulation, and hesit...

In today’s episode, we’re looking at new findings suggesting that major economic shocks may have had less impact on debt collections than many expected. What Intrum Found Credit management firm Intrum analysed portfolios of defaulted debt from 2016 to 2025 and found that average collections on established paying portfolios did not significantly deteriorate during either the Covid-19 pandemic or th...

Small business confidence in the UK may have improved slightly at the start of 2026, but the overall picture is still worrying. The Federation of Small Businesses said confidence remained negative in Q1 2026, with the Small Business Index at -53, up from -71 in Q4 2025. Even with that improvement, confidence has now stayed negative for 8 straight quarters. April has brought another wave of cost in...

In this episode of Debt Matters, we look at the growing pressure on UK businesses as weaker growth, rising costs and continued insolvency activity create a tougher environment for getting paid on time. A new UK business update from the Credit Protection Association says firms are dealing with slowing demand, rising wage costs, higher fixed costs and ongoing geopolitical disruption. This is tighten...

Welcome to Debt Matters. Today, we are looking at a major UK government update on late payments and what it could mean for businesses, suppliers, and the wider debt collection landscape. The Department for Business and Trade published its response to the late payment consultation on 24 March 2026. In that response, the government said late payments are estimated to cost the UK economy almost £11 b...

Welcome to Debt Matters. Today, we are looking at a new government announcement that could shape how public sector debt is handled across the UK over the next few years. HM Treasury has launched its 2026 to 2030 Government Debt Management Strategy, setting out plans to give people and businesses clearer, more tailored support when repaying money owed to government. The government wants repayment p...

Welcome to Debt Matters. Today, we’re looking at the latest business insolvency figures in England and Wales, and what they tell us about the trading environment for firms, suppliers, lenders and collections teams. In February 2026, 1,878 companies entered insolvency in England and Wales. That was 7% higher than January’s 1,749. It was also 7% lower than February 2025’s 2,015. Creditors’ voluntary...

Welcome to Debt Matters, the podcast where we break down the latest UK news shaping debt collection, credit control, arrears, recoveries, and the wider payments landscape. Today’s story is a big one. StepChange is warning that arrears on essential bills are no longer a short-term pressure point. They are becoming a long-term feature of household finances across the UK. That matters not just for co...

Welcome to Debt Matters. Today’s story matters for consumer credit in the UK. The Financial Conduct Authority has published its final rules for Deferred Payment Credit, better known as Buy Now, Pay Later. These changes will bring the sector into FCA regulation from 15 July 2026. This matters because Buy Now, Pay Later has grown rapidly. The FCA says the market increased from £0.06bn in 2017 to mor...

Today we are looking at a story on household debt pressure. Lloyds, Halifax and MBNA customers are being warned that credit card interest rates are going up, and for anyone carrying a balance, this is the sort of change that can quietly make debt much harder to clear. What’s Happening? Some customers with credit cards from Lloyds, Halifax and MBNA are being contacted about a rise in their borrowin...

Welcome to Debt Matters, the UK debt collection and credit control podcast that turns the week’s news into practical takeaways for anyone managing receivables, arrears, or recoveries. Today we’re covering the collapse of Market Financial Solutions, known as MFS, and a headline that grabbed attention: US hedge fund Elliott Management has around £200m of exposure tied to the failed lender. What happ...

Welcome to Debt Matters, the UK debt collection and credit control podcast where we turn the biggest stories into practical takeaways for anyone chasing cashflow. Today: Mastercard has hired Sir Jon Thompson to chair Vocalink, right as the Bank of England prepares decisions around the UK’s next-generation payments platform. What happened Mastercard is strengthening its position in the UK payments...

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) set out proposals to improve how credit information is shared and to reduce “gaps” where someone’s credit file is incomplete or inconsistent across credit reference agencies. The FCA is consulting on changes that would push firms to share the same credit information more consistently across designated agencies, aiming to cut unaffordable lending, errors, and f...

What happened Legal and General will commit up to $1bn over 5 years to back debt-for-nature swaps, which refinance expensive government debt into cheaper, guarantee-supported debt to cut interest costs and fund conservation. The market has slowed due to reduced political risk support. L&G has already backed swaps in Ecuador (Galapagos), Belize, and Gabon, and this move would lift its related i...