|
|
|
19 Jan 2009
A £1.3bn government rescue package for UK SMEs will not help channel firms teetering on the brink this quarter, experts have warned.
Credit reference firm Graydon is predicting a “downward spiral” of channel insolvencies in the first quarter of 2009, after its latest figures revealed Q4 2008 had performed slightly better than the same quarter in 2007 (Channelweb, 14 January).
However, despite Gordon Brown last week pledging a £1.3bn bail-out fund to help smaller firms, Mark Ancell, head of intelligence at Graydon, painted a bleak picture for the first half of the year.
Further reading
“A lot of firms are worried about 2009. Banks are still unwilling to lend to businesses,” he said. “Government intervention may make a difference, but I cannot see it having an effect for at least the first six months of the year, if not longer.”
Nitin Joshi, founder of ChannelMoney, agreed. “Credit managers within distribution are the heroes because they are keeping cash flowing in the channel, despite banks not lending,” he said.
“The government fund is good, but it will be up to a year before SMEs can get loans, so it will not save firms already struggling.”
Related articles
In this video find out about the fast-growing Chinese vendor's plans for market domination and how the channel is its route of choice
Find out what gifts Acer has in store for partners for 2012 in this exclusive roundup of its recent conference
CRN's premier networking event is back on 17 May at the Ricoh Arena
Date: Thu 17 May 2012
Channel fighters preparing to square up once more on 24 May
Date: Thu 24 May 2012
The proliferation of endpoint devices within the enterprise has highlighted the shortcomings of one of the traditional approaches to data security
This Forrester report compares the costs and benefits of legacy email and productivity software with Google Apps
Dave discovers that rozzers are seemingly living in the technology dark ages
Mark Needham, founder of distributor Widget, argues that John Browett leaves for Apple with Dixons in better shape than when he arrived
|
|
|
Do you agree?
Have your say