Late payments culture

 Suppliers call for end to “unethical” late payments culture

A report to be published this week by YouGov and the payments business Basware shows 61% of British SMEs support new legislation that would force companies to pay suppliers within 45 days. Just 11% would oppose legislation. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) estimates that 50,000 companies close each year as a result of late payments, costing the UK about £2.4bn in lost output. Public bodies are among the worst offenders, with research released last week by the FSB revealing that 89% of suppliers to government had been paid late. “Big businesses and government think it is acceptable to pay late,” said Mike Cherry, the FSB’s national chairman. “It is unethical and immoral to force small business owners to chase payments and to turn to personal credit cards, overdrafts or even laying off staff just to keep their head above water.”

Source:   The Sunday Times (06/05/2018)