BPF: Thousands of jobs on line if credit insurance crisis continues

Almost four-fifths of respondents in the latest BPF Business Conditions Survey were having problems securing credit insurance. Since January, the figure has risen from 48% to 79%.

The survey showed no signs of green shoots of recovery, despite increased confidence in sales. 37% of respondents expected to make staff cuts in the next 12 months, which extrapolates to some 6,800 job losses.

“Credit insurance is a severe problem. It’s not only affecting plastics companies now, but it also has the potential to seriously blunt the impact of the recovery,” said BPF director general Peter Davis.

The figures echo Packaging News‘s own research on credit insurance. A survey in the February issue of the magazine found 86% of firms wanted government help to obtain credit insurance.

Of the three-fifths of participants who use credit insurance, 68% had it withdrawn from certain customers. 9% had it withdrawn across the board in the previous six months.

The BPF survey said 44% of firms expect UK sales to remain the same in the next year, and 35% expected an increase of between 5% and 10% from a low base.

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