Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called on the government to introduce fundamental changes to tackle late payments.
Alok Sharma, secretary of state for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Martin McTague, policy and advocacy chairman at the Federation of Small Business, spoke at the Conservative’s virtual party conference yesterday (October 5th).
The late payment issue has worsened since the pandemic. In its report Late Again: how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting payment terms for small firms, 62 per cent of small businesses have experienced an increase an increase and/or had payments frozen completely as a result of COVID-19. McTague said that we need a complete change in attitudes.
“It’s a culture in the UK. There should be one person responsible for supply chain behaviour in a big business. There’s no place to hide, they know the data. They would be responsible for false information.”
He adds that the Small Business Commissioner (SBC) is doing a good job, but he’s got ‘one arm tied behind his back’. The Commissioner is relying on a whistleblower which damages the whistleblower’s relationship with the business and the SBC should have the power to hurt them financially.
“A lot of