BIPA announces the publication of a White Paper setting out the important role Trade Credit plays in the UK economy and how the Government should take steps to safeguard it in the face of economic uncertainty.

In the context of economic turbulence precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent inflationary pressures, BIPA highlights why the availability of Trade Credit may be under threat and details the key steps Government can take to protect and enhance the role of Trade Credit in the post-Covid economic recovery.

With inflation taking hold across the world, and the increased pressure on input prices, in particular as a result of the war in Ukraine, the ability of businesses to understand the current facts about the entities they are dealing with, and to take risk-based decisions accordingly has never been more important. We highlight our concern that if business failures increase, confidence in extending unsecured trade credit may be dealt a blow. In turn, this will have a dampening impact on the economic recovery.

We set out 3 key actions the Government can take which we believe can safeguard the on-going ability of businesses to trade with each other in confidence:

• Make Government-held data sets – in particular the employee numbers collected via Real Time Information – available to selected Third Parties
• Give urgent priority to bringing forward legislation to enact proposed reforms to Companies House
• Enact the recommendations previously made by BIPA in the White Paper “VAT Registration Information” dated 26 April 2019

We welcome input from interested parties who can support our aims.