‘Excellent Guidance’ for businesses struggling with late or unfair payment

At Business East Sussex we have ongoing commitment to provide practical guidance for businesses in the county, so from time to time share resources or tools that we think businesses in East Sussex will find useful. Mike at Business East Sussex has been taking a look at the website of the Office of the Small Business Commissioner:

“Getting debts paid on promptly is important in normal times, but in the current climate even more crucial. The Office of the Small Business Commissioner has some excellent guidance for small businesses struggling with late or unfair payment practices or terms.”

The Office of the Small Business Commissioner is an independent public body set up by Government under the Enterprise Act 2016 to tackle late payment and unfavourable payment practices in the private sector. The late payment culture that exists between businesses in the UK means that a third of payments to small businesses are late, and 20% of small businesses have run in to cash flow problems due to late payments.

They give general advice and information on matters such as:

• resolving disputes and dealing with an unpaid invoice
• checking contracts and getting invoices right
• signposting small businesses to existing support and dispute resolution services

If you are affected by late payment you can use their complaint investigation service