UK business output has slowed for the sixth month in a row1 as companies grapple with the challenges of a supply chain crisis, rising energy costs and a shortage of workers.
There are delays at ports in the US, Asia and Europe, and Felixstowe, Britain’s busiest port, has seen the amount of time that goods spend in port double2 from four and a half days in 2020 to nine days as the shortage of HGV drivers lead to backlogs. The Road Haulage Association estimates there is now a shortage of 100,000 HGV drivers3 in the UK.
There has been a considerable increase in transportation costs, with the cost of transporting a 40ft container from East Asia to Europe now nearly £11,000, an increase of nearly 10 times compared to 2019. The cost of raw materials and key components has also risen, and shortages are likely to continue – for example the global silicon chip shortage is set to last into 20234.
Rising inflation in the UK is causing additional pressures, with the Bank of England expecting inflation to peak at 5% in spring 20225, a significant rise from its target of 2%. Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England said, “I’m very uneasy about the inflation situation. I want to be very clear on that. It is not, of course, where we wanted to be, to have inflation above target.”
As companies head into an uncertain winter, many will be looking for trade credit solutions to help them trade more confidently, so that if they suffer the loss of a bad debt, credit insurance will be there to support them.
Our online Trade Credit solution: Nimbla
Gallagher offers a range of trade credit solutions, including a digital insurance platform designed for small and medium sized business in association with Nimbla, Nimbla makes trade credit insurance more accessible by offering the option to pick and choose which invoices to insure, and through this online platform a full service can be accessed, from an insurance decision and quotation, to invoice payment and claim management.
You can obtain a credit opinion on any of your customers before proceeding to the quote process – and purchase protection for invoice(s) up to a maximum of £110k per invoice or £500k per customer. Whether you sell products or services, Nimbla allows you to choose invoice protection for single invoices to insure your company against late payments or customer insolvency.
Visit www.nimbla.com/ajg to find out more about the benefits of our innovative solution.
- https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/08/uk-business-output-falls-for-sixth-month-in-a-row-amid-supply-chain-crisis
- https://www.theweek.co.uk/business/economy/954529/the-supply-chain-crisis
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/57810729
- https://inews.co.uk/news/technology/global-chip-shortage-silicon-2023-intel-laptop-supply-chain-1263242
- https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/15/bank-of-england-governor-very-uneasy-rising-inflation-interest-rates-andrew-bailey
