Why this page exists
We'd rather you check than take our word for it
Every rate, stat and threshold used on this site is sourced below, with the body it comes from and, where relevant, a date. If a figure ever looks out of date, it's here so you can verify it directly rather than trusting a claim on a finance site. See Editorial Standards for the checks a figure has to pass before it's allowed on the site at all.
Rates and lending data
- Bank of England base rate: the official policy rate, set by the Monetary Policy Committee. Currently 3.75%, held at the 30 July 2026 decision (6-3 vote against a further hike). Source: Bank of England.
- SME overdraft balances: £2.7bn outstanding at end-2024, against total SME loan-and-overdraft stock of £179bn. Source: Bank of England, Table A8.1 (monthly series since April 2011).
- Business Finance Review (quarterly): UK lending volumes across invoice finance, asset-based lending, and other commercial facilities. Source: UK Finance.
- Small Business Finance Markets Report (annual): SME finance usage and access patterns. Source: British Business Bank.
Company and classification data
- Companies Act size thresholds: the official turnover, balance sheet and employee bands for micro, small and medium companies, effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 6 April 2025. Source: gov.uk.
- SIC classification gap: 886,106 UK companies use at least one "not elsewhere classified" SIC code, around 1 in 5 of all UK companies on The Data City's own framing. A further ~740,000 of those have no other SIC code alongside the NEC one, genuinely hidden rather than just messily tagged. Source: The Data City, 2023 analysis of Companies House filings.
- Audit-exemption threshold shift: an estimated ~113,000 companies moved from the small to the micro-entity band following the April 2025 threshold rise (the same reform separately moves ~14,000 medium companies to small and ~6,000 large companies to medium; 113,000 is the small/micro slice specifically, not the whole reform's headcount). Source: gov.uk, government impact assessment for the Companies Act thresholds change.
- Company charges and filings: registered debentures, charges, and accounts. Source: Companies House.
Tax and regulatory sources
- R&D tax relief rules and the merged scheme. Source: HMRC.
- Tax adviser registration requirements: Finance Act 2026, Part 7, Schedule 20. Source: legislation.gov.uk.
- Duty deferment account guarantee waivers. Source: gov.uk.
Sector and mechanism sources
- Community pharmacy reimbursement cycle: the FP34C submission process, advance and reconciliation payment timing. Source: Community Pharmacy England.
- MOD SME spend and payment policy: annual SME spend, the direct-award/supply-chain split, and the Prompt Payment Policy target. Source: MOD SME Action Plan and Defence Office for Small Business Growth.
- Veterinary sector consolidation: the CMA's market investigation into corporate ownership of UK veterinary practices, concluded 24 March 2026. Source: Competition and Markets Authority.
- Public-sector payment terms: the Procurement Act 2023's 30-day cascading payment requirement, SME payment targets, and Payments Compliance Notices. Source: gov.uk prompt payment policy. The voluntary Prompt Payment Code was retired in favour of the Fair Payment Code, December 2024.
- Construction Industry Scheme (CIS): deduction rates and gross payment status thresholds. Source: gov.uk CIS deductions and gov.uk gross payment status.
- Construction retentions: standard practice and the government's own reform consultation. Source: gov.uk consultation on retention payments.
- VAT payment deadlines: the standard and Annual Accounting Scheme deadlines. Source: gov.uk submit a VAT return and gov.uk Annual Accounting Scheme.
- Deferred-revenue accounting for subscription businesses: IFRS 15 and FRS 102's five-step revenue recognition model. Source: IFRS Foundation and the Financial Reporting Council.
- Marketplace/platform payout timing: Amazon and Shopify's own published disbursement mechanics. Source: Amazon's official seller-payments documentation and Shopify's official payout-scheduling help pages.
- Retailer deductions in the grocery supply chain: the Groceries Supply Code of Practice. Source: gov.uk, the Groceries Code Adjudicator.
- Apprenticeship and skills funding structures: milestone and outcome-based payment for training providers. Source: gov.uk apprenticeship funding guidance and DfE Skills Bootcamps funding guidance.
- Care home regulation: CQC registration requirements. Source: Care Quality Commission.
Spotted a figure that looks out of date? Tell us. Every figure on this site links to the source above, and we'd rather correct it than leave it stale.
The problem with unsourced claims
Most finance sites cite a figure without saying where it came from, which makes it unfalsifiable: you either trust the site or you don't. We'd rather you didn't have to. If a claim on this site can't be traced to something above, treat it as unverified and ask us directly.
Citing this site
If you're referencing a figure from this site elsewhere, cite the primary source linked above directly rather than this page. The source is the authority; we're just the index. If you're referencing our own analysis or framing rather than an underlying stat, attribute it to Established Finance with a link back to the specific page, and the date you accessed it, since figures here are dated and may be updated.
