One in 25 UK businesses unable to repay debts if interest rates rise
A survey by R3 and BDRC reveals that 79,000 UK businesses say that they would be unable
to repay their debts if interest rates were to rise by a small amount. This is almost
four times the 20,000 businesses in this situation in September 2016.
The survey also showed that 96,000 firms were just paying interest on their debts.
However, the research also found that despite a rising number of firms unable to afford a future interest rate rise, the number of UK businesses showing signs of serious financial distress continues to fall.
Andrew Tate, spokesperson for R3, said that the research shows that there are tens of thousands of firms that are "currently walking a very tight line".