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Britain Will Have To Increase Exports

February 8th, 2010 Mike Garrett No comments

We all know that, like most of the rest of the world, the United Kingdom economy is in rough shape. It’s facing at least ten years of readjustments as it starts to turn toward increased exports rather than consumer spending, which has been the focus for some time. This is the conclusion of a recent report from the Ernst & Young Item Club – the group responsible for accurate economic forecasting in Britain.

This may be a very difficult transition for local firms that have dealt with domestic customers for many years. They will have to look to overseas markets to try to meet their current sales targets. Peter Spencer, a special adviser from Ernst & Young, said that Britain had been relying on the domestic consumer for almost ten years and that it would not work anymore. The team’s report went on to say that the UK would have trouble reaching even 1% growth in 2010. These are not very exciting numbers for many market analysts.

Spencer went on to say that he felt the UK consumer was simply cashed out and couldn’t go on spending like they had. The Ernst & Young report says that they expect to see a meager 0.4% increase in spending in the country this year. Spencer said that the only way Britain could turn things around is if the world economy started seeing a rapid growth, which is not likely at this point in time. It will take a lot of hard work and enterprise by the UK exporter to overcome these hurdles but Spencer said it could be done.

The success of many UK businesses was dependent on exports but the report said that countries like China weren’t being targeted effectively. The UK had a high market share in many Asian countries but they are a very small player in China. Spencer suggested that this was an important region that the UK had to increase their market share in to ensure the future success of the economy.

In 2011, the Ernst and Young report expects to see an increase in exports for the UK but 2010 will be quite slow. The good thing is that 2011 may see as much as 9% growth and then up to 10% in 2012. This will calm many investors who have felt concerned about the recession and it should help the UK economy to turn around. Figures from last year show that the UK officially ended its recession in October 2009 but this was only made possible by unsustainable measures by the government.

Some of these measures include firms restocking, the car scraping scheme that the government introduced, and increased spending before the VAT increase at the beginning of the year.

Its expected that the positive side effects of these measures will wear off soon which could slow growth significantly in the short term.

Another report by Begbies Traynor says that insolvencies in the final quarter of 2009 were actually 15% lower than the same time a year before. This statistic was likely another result of government support measures to try to keep the economy from plummeting further.

Both reports showed that 2010 might be a tough year for the economy but that things could bounce back in 2011.

Looking to find out more about the consumer spending and the IVA process, then visit Mike Garrett’s site on debt in the UK.

Tackling debt and avoiding bankruptcy

January 10th, 2010 Ivan Dooher No comments

If you are faced with a debt problem there are many options to explore. Finding the right solution to your debts can change your life

Bankruptcy is naturally a last resort, and getting the right advice may well help you to avoid it. Insolvency Practitioners specialise in just this. They can take a good look at your finances and give you advice about the steps that are available to you.

One way of getting out of debt is to enter into a Debt Management Plan. This solution is normally the first port of call when your debts are getting out of hand and you can no longer manage the monthly payments. The first thing to do is determine how bad your debt problem is. You should tally up all of your debts working out your total amount owed to your creditors and the total monthly minimum payments owed.

If the debt is overwhelming your finances, you may want to consider selling any assets you may have. This is not necessarily confined to large items worth substantial amounts of money. Depending on the scale of your debts you may be able to take the pressure off by selling smaller items.

Next, it can pay to approach your creditors and see what options they can offer you. It’s in their interests that you don’t end up having to declare yourself bankrupt as they’re more likely to get the debt paid that way. If you contact them and let them know that you do want to pay the debt off but are having trouble, they may well have a procedure in place to offer you an alternative payment plan. However, make sure you check the terms of any plan they offer you thoroughly as usual.

An additional measure that an Insolvency Practitioner may offer you is an Individual Voluntary Arrangement, which is a formal proposal that you make to your creditors in terms of what you can pay them. In Scotland, there is an alternative to an IVA called a Protected Trust Deed, which performs much the same function and can help to avoid bankruptcy.

If you are so deep down to even think about getting out of debt and it is spiralling out of control, you should avoid robbing Peter to pay Paul and get advice as soon as possible. The only way out is to face your problem. There are tailored debt solutions to help you get out of your financial predicament.

Want to find out more about avoiding bankruptcy, then visit IVA.net and find the best solution to your debts.

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