Govt 'committed to tackling late payment'

The government has underlined its commitment to tackling the trend of late payment by teaming up with representative bodies in order to address the issue.

Indeed, the Forum of Private Businesses (FPB) has long been calling on the coalition to step in on this matter - as it can lead to financial difficulties and closures for many firms.

Members of the Small Business Economic Forum (SBEF) have now signed an agreement to work together to develop new measures to reinforce the supply chain cash flow by guaranteeing payments are secured and made on time.

Mark Prisk, the business and enterprise minister, who is also chair of the SBEF, said that it is the responsibility of large firms in particular to ensure there are no delays to payments to suppliers.

"These payments are vital to businesses in the supply chain which rely on contracts with larger firms to thrive and need confidence that they can plan for the future without worrying that payments will be late," Mr Prisk commented.