The government must introduce measures to end a culture of late payment and “supply chain bullying”, a leading employers’ group has claimed.
The Federation of Small Businesses has called on the chancellor to use his forthcoming spring statement to introduce tougher rules to prevent poor payment practices and to adopt so-called “project bank accounts” to protect suppliers’ money on public procurement work.
A survey by the federation found that 84 per cent of small companies had been paid late. The group, which represents more than 100,000 small businesses, wants there to be an obligation for large companies to assign non-executive directors to their boards who would have responsibility for their organisation’s payment practices and supplier relationships.
The organisation is also calling for fines for businesses