The latest exclusive article for SMEWeb by Small Business Commissioner Emma Jones CBE. Emma runs the independent public body that tackles late payment and unfair payment practices.
As you enter the new year, your small business sights will be set on how to keep going and growing whilst accessing the right support and resource to achieve your goals.
At the Office of the Small Business Commissioner (OSBC), we are on a mission to make your life easier by getting money moving faster. Here are three things you can expect from us this year:
Retrieving late payments
If you are a small business (less than 50 employees) waiting to be paid via a late invoice with a large business (more than 50 employees), then contact our casework team as they may be able to help. This team has recovered more than £10m in owing monies for founders. The construction sector is not in our remit, nor are public authorities but if your issue is in these areas, we can signpost to organisations that can help.
Showcasing prompt payment
Companies paying their SME suppliers on time will be shouted about from the rooftops, in particular, large companies signing up to the Fair Payment Code. Doing so sends a strong signal from such companies that they treat their suppliers well. These code awardees will be celebrated in articles, at events, via the OSBC website and social channels. If you trade with a big business, please ask them in your next conversation if they are on the Fair Payment Code. The more large corporates on the Code, the faster funds will flow.
Overseeing change
It is set to be a key and critical year when it comes to getting tougher on those businesses who don’t pay on time. The government will be releasing its response to the late payment consultation early in the new year and this is likely to be followed by certain measures going through a parliamentary process to become law. This could include the UK being a country where 60 day payment terms are the maximum allowed in contracts and mandatory interest at 12% is applied to late invoices.
This update to legislation would lead to new powers for OSBC to fine and call-out companies that are not complying. In my view, it doesn’t take too many fines before companies start to take more of a concerted look at their payment terms and times. This renewed attention gets the money moving, which is good news for small firms.
Updates and progress on the above will continue to be shared in my weekly LinkedIn newsletter which you can subscribe to here. Rest assured, we will be working at pace and with small firms front of mind to try and reduce the wasted hours spent chasing debt and to get money moving through the economy.
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