Credit ratings for more than 1.5m companies in the UK are now freely available following the launch of an online reviews directory. BView, which has been live for a month, lists the details of more than 2.3m trading companies, including credit ratings, customer reviews and scores on quality of service and reliability.
Unlike opt-in business directories and review sites, companies cannot remove their profiles and the interactive nature of BView means that individuals can search through league tables of businesses ranked by their customers.
The credit information has been provided through credit reference agency Equifax and is updated every month, according to Brad Liebmann, founder and chairman of the web portal. He hopes the site will become the "Wikipedia" of commercial data, promoting good practice and exposing rogue traders. "We are taking information that is opaque and exposing it. This level of transparency is the only way forward for UK businesses," he said.
However, not everybody is convinced of the benefits with some observers saying it could do more harm than good. "The guise it is in at the moment, it’s dangerous," said Ron Bidwell, group credit manager for Bridisco. "A lot of the information from what I’ve seen looks really out of date, more than a month old, so you’ve got companies on there that are said to be financially stable when in reality they’re not."
He added that the accuracy of the information posted is questionable and could easily be skewed. "People are quicker to reprimand than praise so it is 20 times more likely you’ll get someone saying something bad than good," he said. "Also, who’s to stop me registering under 20 different names and slagging off all my competitors?"
Liebmann said it will only remove any reviews or comments that are obscene and malicious in intent but aims to mitigate against people trying to manipulate ratings by weighting the value and influence of reviewers. "We accept that not all businesses will like being up there and that we could either be loved or loathed," he said.
With businesses ranging from sole traders to limited companies, he added that the site will create a level playing field for everyone, regardless of how big or small the marketing budget is. Every business has a free profile but can take out a premium membership at £149 per annum for added benefits such as a web link and logo.
Professor Andrew Burke of Cranfield School of Management, whose area of expertise is small to medium sized enterprises, believes the portal will radically transform the dominant economic model. "The site encourages innovation as businesses now need to be more competitive and responsive to customer needs, thereby strengthening the UK economy," he said.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Recession is looming, admits IMF
The International
Monetary Fund today raised the spectre of outright global recession, blaming the
worst financial crisis in the US since the Great Depression.
pessimistic internal document, the IMF cuts its forecast for global economic
growth in 2008 from the 4.1% it predicted in January to just 3.7%.
that originated in the US subprime mortgage market in
August 2007 has spread quickly, and in unanticipated ways, to inflict extensive
damage on markets and institutions at the core of the financial system,' the
report says. 'The global expansion is losing momentum in the face of what has
become the largest financial crisis in the US since the Great Depression.'
by Bloomberg News at an event for Asian ministers and central bankers in
Vietnam, said there was a 25% chance global growth would drop to 3% or less this
year and next - a pace the IMF described as equivalent to a global recession.
Mortgage approvals fall 40 per cent, says BoE
Mortgage approvals
have dropped 40 per cent from a year ago, with lending now at its lowest level
for 13 years, according to stats from the Bank of England.
The number of loans
approved for house purchases fell to 73,000 in February, with remortgaging
falling to 111,000. Figures released by the BoE also show that equity withdrawal
is now at its lowest level for three years.
It says that equity
withdrawal in the last quarter of 2007 fell by 33 per cent compared to the
previous three months. It was down by nearly half on the same time the previous
year. Figures also show an increaser in total net lending to individuals in
February to £9.8bn, which was above the increase in January and the previous six
month average.
Liberal Democrat
Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable says: “It is becoming increasingly clear that the
downturn in the housing market is much more than just a blip. As the credit
crunch continues to restrict lending and with many people saddled with masses of
personal debt, a dramatic fall in mortgage approvals was
inevitable.”
He adds: “As house
prices continue to fall and mortgage costs rise, we are in real danger of
returning to the woes of the Tory recession with large numbers of families
suffering negative equity and repossession. The Government must act now to
prevent mass repossessions which will only worsen this housing
crash.”
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