The latest exclusive article for SMEWeb by Small Business Commissioner Emma Jones CBE. Emma runs the independent public body that helps small businesses tackle late payments and unfair payment practices.
A key element of our work at the Office is investigating cases on behalf of small firms who are not getting paid on time. The casework team has, so far in this financial year, recovered more than £1.4 million in late payments, which is an amount that exceeds the annual budget to run the Office.
The team can help if you are a business with less than 50 employees, not getting paid by a company with more than 50 employees. The payment has to be with a business as we don’t deal with late payments from the public sector (central government or local authorities) but we know the team that does so can signpost you in the right direction. The other area not within our remit is the construction sector but, again, we can direct you to RICS, which is the body that deals with late payment for construction companies.
Our guidance to small firms is to contact us in the first instance ahead of taking any legal advice or action as we can hopefully resolve the payment without injuring the client relationship. In the past six months, the team has dealt with cases from everything ranging from the oil & gas sector, online merchants, and veterinary providers. All with a fair resolution.
In many instances, the casework team will approach the payer to ask for payment, and discover that there was a glitch in the process or an invoice had been incorrectly submitted ie it is often not a case of unwillingness to pay, more a systems or communications error that can be fixed.
Currently the casework team does need to share the identity of the small firm when investigating a case but one of the measures being considered as part of the late payments consultation is for the Office to anonymously investigate. This is alongside other potential new powers including the ability to impose fines and make legally binding arbitration to resolve payment disputes, plus responsibility for spot-checks to ensure accurate payment performance reporting by large businesses. There could also be fines for large businesses that consistently pay their suppliers late.
In the meantime, if you are a small business, check out the resources available on our site and if you deliver support to small firms, please make your clients aware of this free investigation service. The contact form that goes through to the casework team is here.
And if you are a founder based in Wales, we will be sharing our work in person at a free event in Cardiff on 25 February with a top line-up of speakers including entrepreneurs, support providers, and growth accelerators.
I hope we can support your business.
Other content by Emma Jones:
- Chasing late payments? How the Office of the Small Business Commissioner can help
- Focus on the Fair Payment Code and celebrating firms that pay on time
- Top tips to contract well and get paid on time
- Three things to expect from the Office of the Small Business Commissioner in 2026