October 5th 2010 - THE UK’s coastal towns and cities have the highest proportion of personal bankruptcies for the second year in a row.

A table of the top 50 bankruptcy hotspots in the UK has been released by accounting firm Wilkins Kennedy this week and places Hull, Blackpool, Plymouth and Eastbourne in the top rankings.

The findings add to research by insolvency trade body R3 which found nearly half of Britons run out of money within 20 days of being paid and 40% of British adults are struggling financially to get through the month.

“Bankruptcy is nothing new but it does appear to be gaining its fair share of the headlines,” says John Fairhurst, Managing Director at Payplan, one of the UK’s free leading debt solution providers.

Payplan, one of the UK’s leading and oldest established free debt solutions providers, has welcomed today’s warning by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to 129 debt management firms to start complying or face losing their consumer credit licence. The OFT has given the offending companies three months to comply to its Debt Management Guidance – if they don’t, they face losing their licence and the right to operate. The news has received a welcome response from national provider Payplan and other compliant organisations in the sector. “Consumers who run into financial problems and have debt issues to contend with come to companies like our own at a very vulnerable time. It is vital they receive the correct service,” said John Fairhurst, managing director at Payplan. “We operate standards of best practice in free debt management, we believe strongly that creditors should play a part in helping financial recovery. This is fundamental to our working model.

September 7 2010 - The number of house repossessions continues to fall, according to latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) - but this could just be a smokescreen, warns national debt advisor Payplan.

CML’s forecast for 2010 repossessions has been revised from 53,000 to 39,000 while mortgage arrears in the first half of the year dropped by 5%.

But these positive figures could be painting a false picture and the autumn could see a return to bad debt mortgage, says John Fairhurst, managing director at free debt advice provider Payplan.

“Low interest rates have driven down mortgage repayments but this bubble will burst and the prospect of higher interest rates is inevitable. Combine this with a rise in both the cost of living and unemployment and it could be a rocky time ahead.”

 September 2nd 2010 - Enterprise Europe Network South West and the Digital Communications Knowledge Transfer Network are pleased to offer a FREE a one day Master Class focussed on participation in Framework 7 European Research Programmes. The workshop will take place on September 7 at the Swindon Marriott Hotel, Pipers Way, Swindon, SN3 1SH. The experience and tips offered at the workshop will greatly enhance the chances of success in applying for European research grants.