Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Paul Uppal, the ex-small business commissioner, has blamed Whitehall for pushing him out of a role which, he says, is under-resourced and ignored by government.
Uppal, who was appointed late payment watchdog in 2016, has told The Times that his office was met with “radio silence” from civil servants and ministers over his approach to the job and that his budget was too small to tackle the “huge task” of getting big companies to pay small businesses on time.
>See also: Small Business Commissioner Q&A: Paul Uppal talks about late payments
The former late payment tzar left in October after a disagreement over an alleged conflict of interest related to an unpaid, interim advisory role in another government-backed small business scheme.
Uppal expressed his “shock” and “hurt” at how the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy handled the issue.
Chancellor Sajid Javid said last week that a successor to Uppal would be found quickly and that the role would be given more teeth.
>See also: How to tackle late payments to your small business
Uppal says that his successor would need more financial and strategic support from government. His last face-to-face meeting with a Whitehall official was back in