Last week saw two announcements on the ongoing issue of late payments by large companies to SMEs, both described as measures to end the problem.
The first announced the appointment of Paul Uppal, Small Business Commissioner, to the Prompt Payment Code’s Compliance Board alongside a promise from business secretary Greg Clark to strengthen the voluntary Prompt Payment Code.
The second, by Small Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst, was a call to submit evidence to help the Government to identify “the most effective way possible to tackle this issue once and for all”. The deadline for submissions is November 29 and you can find out more here. Her press release states: “Nearly a quarter of UK businesses report that late payments are a threat to their survival.”
According to the Times, Mr Clark had also promised that 90% of undisputed invoices from SMEs on Government contracts would be paid within five days. He also floated a proposal to make company boards appoint Non-Executive Directors with responsibility for supply chain practice.
In view of the IoD’s (Institute of Directors’) estimate that late payments put 50,000 SMEs a year out of business, I make no apology for revisiting this appalling situation for a fourth time this year, following my previous blogs on April 12, June 28 and a Stop Press on September 25 in which I mentioned a Times report that Mr Uppal had helped just nine SMEs with complaints since his appointment in December last year.
New research from Hitachi Capital, reported in Credit Connect, has also revealed that 17% of business owners say they are forgoing paying themselves a wage so they can pay their staff on time. This rises to 27% of small businesses that say they are already struggling to survive.
The history of action on late payment and the Prompt Payment Code
The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 made it mandatory for larger businesses (those with more than 250 employees or £36 million in annual turnover) to report their payment practices and performance on a half-yearly basis.
Non-compliance is a criminal offence, subject to prosecution. Yet since it came into force in April 2017 only 2,000 of the 15,000 businesses required to comply have submitted reports, and of these, some of the information has been inadequate. Despite the criminal aspects of non-compliance by 13,000 businesses, there have been no reported prosecutions.
In December 2017 Mr Uppal was appointed Small Business Commissioner with a brief, to support (my italics) SMEs in taking action on late payments and on making a complaint.
It was just a month or so later that Carillion, a known late payment offender and a signatory to the voluntary Prompt Payment Code, went bust and three months on from Mr Uppal’s appointment, as I reported, a survey by Close Brothers Invoice Finance found that 84% of those SMEs asked had little confidence that the appointment would have a positive impact on their businesses. It would appear that Boris Johnson’s two-word comment about business was prophetic.
Action that should be taken on late payment and the Prompt Payment Code
Perhaps I am being cynical but the latest Government announcements were made during the Conservative Party conference – no doubt to garner positive headlines in view of the general cynicism about the Government’s understanding of SMEs problems, especially given that businesses are becoming more public about the ongoing Brexit negotiations? Time will tell.
As one commentator, Greg Carter, founder and chief executive of Growth Street, said in CityAM “At present, the Prompt Payment Code … dictates that invoices should be paid within 60 days, other than in ‘exceptional circumstances’. We’ve all seen now that these voluntary stipulations are worth little more than the paper they’re written on.”
He added “But no matter how energetic and effective the small business commissioner is, he must be supported with a robust, meaningful, and (crucially) enforceable code.”
This, surely, is the point. For SMEs to see any meaningful improvement in payment times, there must be a sufficiently strong set of penalties that are actually imposed to ensure businesses comply. As Mr Carter says in the article action needs to follow rhetoric. Failure to police the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 says it all.