Monday 9th September, 2013

Marks & Spencer will be extending the time it takes to pay its general merchandise suppliers to help increase the company’s cash flow, after suffering eight consecutive quarters of declining underlying sales in its general merchandise division - consisting of clothing, footwear and homewares. The company has pinned its hopes for a revival on new autumn/winter ranges which hit stores in July.

Friday 6th September, 2013

Basware, has partnered with CEDEX e-Autohub, a Chinese supplier network, to connect automotive manufacturers in Europe and North America with suppliers in China. With this partnership, the Basware Commerce Network and the Chinese automotive network have combined to drive the exchange of electronic invoices in the automotive industry. The agreement will simplify purchasing, accounts payable and invoicing processes to deliver better control, efficiency and cash flows.

Thursday 5th September, 2013

In a conversation I had with Luke McKeever, CEO OB10 earlier this year I questioned him about the future of e-invoicing and how the deep benefits it can provide to organisations globally could shape or drive our relationships with the banks in the future. And it would seem that that future is already upon us with the news yesterday that Tungsten Corporation PLC, founded last year by Edmund Truell (founder of private equity house Duke Street Capital) is set to aquire OB10 for £99m.

Wednesday 4th September, 2013

The European Union (EU) hopes to take another step towards digitizing public procurement process with e-invoicing during the current presidency of Lithuania which runs until the end of 2013.

According to the estimates by the European Commission (EC), the expenditure of the public sector amounts to some 19% of the EU GDP, while the value of public procurement totals approximately EUR 420 billion per year.

Tuesday 3rd September, 2013

Six Yorkshire councils have joined forces to block the websites for all known payday lenders in the country.  The councils which represent 2.4 million residents and employ 67,000 employees have taken the step of blocking the websites of all known payday lenders from all council terminals – including those in libraries and face-to-face customer contact centres as well as all staff computers.

Monday 2nd September, 2013

According to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) small firms could be missing out on cheaper finance as new figures show around two thirds (61%) of firms haven't heard of Funding for Lending (FLS).

The FSB’s survey ‘Voice of Small Business’ shows an increase in lending for the first time through FLS and while this is welcome news, the FSB believes more needs to be done for businesses to have their loan applications accepted.