In a survey nearly a third of tradespeople admitted to feeling anxious over outstanding invoices. A further 22% said they felt stressed about the situation.

Research from the Office of the Small Business Commissioner estimates that late payments cost small business owners £2.5 billion a year.

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A digger stolen five months ago from a building site in Dorset has been recovered over 1,200 miles away in Poland.

The Hitachi digger was found in the Pruchnik area, near the border with Ukraine.

If the digger had been transported by land it would have had to travel through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany before reaching Poland.

Superintendent Andrew Huddleston of the National Rural Crime Unit told The Guardian, that the theft demonstrated that international organised crime was targeting the UK farming and construction industries.

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Insurance firm Ageas claims it has seen a significant rise of a new ‘crash for cash’ scam targeting van drivers.

The fraud involves moped riders deliberately manoeuvring their vehicles into the path of a reversing van, to induce impact and then claim damage and injuries. 

Katie Davies, director of underwriting services and fraud at Ageas said drivers needed to be “aware of the tell-tell signs of faked accidents as this can help avoid falling victim to this continuing scam.”

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