Government to Protect Small Businesses with Action on Late Payment

The government is seeking to create a culture of prompt payment in UK business. This is essential to enable small businesses to succeed, creating jobs, driving innovation and supporting their community.

Currently £23.4 billion worth of late invoices are owed to small firms across Britain, impacting on businesses’ cash flow and ultimate survival.

According to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), around 50,000 small companies close each year due to late payments.
With many UK businesses continuing to struggle with the impact of coronavirus, this is now an especially urgent issue.

The Office of the Small Business Commissioner was established in 2017 by the previous government to address the issue of late payments. Since then, the SBC has claimed £7.5 million owed to small businesses and publicly named 8 companies for poor payment practice.

Click here to view the full report.

The consultation opened on 1st October and will run until 24 December 2020. Businesses are invited to share their views here.