A Staffordshire business owner who has had to dip into personal savings to pay staff because of late-paying customers has welcomed landmark new legislation aimed at tackling the problem.
Helena King, owner and commercial director of Euro-Matic, was invited to Downing Street this week as the Government introduced what it described as the ‘largest crackdown on late payments in more than 25 years’.
The new Small Business Protections Bill includes a proposed 60-day cap on payment terms for large firms dealing with smaller suppliers, mandatory interest on late payments and stronger powers for the Small Business Commissioner to investigate and fine persistent offenders.
Daily Focus previously reported that more than 90 per cent of businesses who responded to a Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce poll have been impacted by late payments.
Helena, who runs the Cannock-based business with her husband Paul, said she had been invited through the Federation of Small Businesses after sharing her experiences of late payments and the impact they have had on the company.
Euro-Matic imports and distributes specialist hollow plastic balls manufactured in Budapest and operates with a small team made up of Helena and Paul, one direct employee and four external staff.
Helena said: “In the last three months it’s got harder and harder and we are finding that some larger businesses are literally holding their cash back. They can seem quite apathetic towards paying and suppliers are at the bottom of the priority list.
“Our debtors list got bigger and bigger and at one point we had £80,000 of unpaid invoices.
“I have had to take money from our personal savings to meet our payroll. Some months my husband and I don’t pay ourselves so we can pay our team.”
During the Downing Street visit she spent around 10 minutes speaking with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and also held discussions with Business Secretary Peter Kyle, alongside a small group of business owners from around the country.
Helena said: “I spoke to Peter at length about the challenges facing small businesses. I also made some great new contacts and learned about some government schemes to boost UK exports.
“It was a special experience and I was honoured to be invited to represent our business and the county.”
Under the proposed legislation, the Small Business Commissioner would gain powers to investigate poor payment practices, adjudicate disputes and issue fines worth potentially millions of pounds to persistent late payers.
Launching the bill this week, Business Secretary Peter Kyle said: “Costing the UK economy £11 billion every single year, late payments choke growth, cost jobs, and force too many good businesses to close. That ends today.
“Through this landmark bill we are delivering the toughest payment reforms in over a generation, to give the UK the strongest legal framework in the G7, and back small businesses with the certainty they need to grow and thrive.”
