One of the things suppliers are always advised to do before agreeing to provide any client with goods or services on account is to check their credit rating.

It’s a simple way to increase your own protection against serial defaulters and outright rip-off merchants. If a company or an individual has a good credit score, it means they haven’t got anything in their past that should give you cause for concern about their ability or intention to pay.

Read more: Missing IT Case Proves Credit Ratings Can’t Be Taken As Gospel

The number of County Court Judgments (CCJs) against businesses in England and Wales shot up by 12% in the first quarter of 2019, according to official figures from the Registry Trust.

A total of 35,779 CCJs were issued in the first three months of the year with a combined value of £107.2 million - a year-on-year increase of 6% from the same period in 2018. The figures show that judgments have gone up against both incorporated and non-incorporated businesses, part of a longer term trend which has seen the net value and frequency of CCJs increase.

Read more: County Court Judgments Against Businesses Soar in First Quarter of 2019

Here’s a debt recovery story with a twist - a sales rep sues his erstwhile employer for unpaid commission, wins, and then discovers that the business unit he worked for has been shut down mid-action, with all its assets transferred to a new legal entity.

The upshot being, a year on from being awarded his claim in court, he is yet to receive a penny.

Read more: Oracle and the Murky World of Sales Commissions

An initial review of payment practices under the government’s Prompt Payment Code has found 17 signatories in breach of the code’s commitments.

A total of five companies - BHP Billiton, DHL, GKN Plc, John Sisk & Son Ltd and Twinings - have been kicked out of the scheme completely for non-compliance and for failing to produce an action plan for how they intend to bring their payment practices in line with the stipulations.

Read more: 17 Companies Named and Shamed for Failing to Uphold Payment Code

It can’t be too often that small suppliers find themselves in agreement with notoriously hard-nosed retail tycoon Mike Ashley, owner of the Sports Direct Group. But on the subject of troubled department store Debenhams’ recovery options, there may be some common ground.

In the past week, Debenhams has secured a £200m refinancing package to help it restructure its debts, cut operating costs and rationalise its store holdings. Mike Ashley and Sports Direct, Debenhams’ biggest shareholder, are vehemently opposed to the plan, even going so far as to write to shareholders alleging misconduct from directors in a bid to get them to block the plans.

Read more: Why Debenhams Refinancing Fails to Reassure Small Creditors

New figures exposing the extent of the UK’s late payment culture have revealed that more than 100,000 companies waited an average of 57 days for payment from clients last year - almost double the government’s statutory payment terms.

The research, carried out by insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor, found that one in 10 of these contractors and suppliers went out of business - 1000 firms in total.

Read more: Firms Failing As Statutory Payment Terms Are Ignored

New figures from the Insolvency Service show a shocking decline in enforcement actions against unscrupulous businesses since the government’s austerity programme was introduced in 2010.

According to the Service’s regular Enforcement Outcomes updates, the number of interventions to wind up companies in the public interest is set to decline again this year, the fourth consecutive annual fall. Over the longer term, in 2009/10 there were 267 successful petitions to close companies down, compared to just 73 in 2017/18 - a decrease of 73%. In the current year, with just a month to go, there have been just 57 completed actions.

Read more: Austerity Hammers Efforts to Protect Public from Rogue Businesses

Backers of a project to reboot the classic ZX Spectrum as a handheld games console have been left half a million pounds out of pocket after the developer went to the wall.

As we have previously reported, the project to bring back the cult 80s device launched by Retro Computers Ltd has been dogged with problems in what has become a long-running saga.

The company initially set up a crowdfunding campaign through IndieGoGo to bring the concept to life. It raised £513,000 from more than 4,500 backers, with Retro promising each enthusiast a finished console when production was completed.

Read more: Spectrum VEGA+ Backers Face Fight for Cash As Developer Goes Under