20% of small businesses regularly experience cashflow problems because their bills are paid late – a situation the government described as the ‘scourge of late payment’ in this year’s Spring Statement. There is a government consultation in the pipeline and in December 2017 a new service was launched to help.

The role of the office of the Small Business Commissioner (SBC) is to encourage a culture of fair payment practices by:

• supporting Britain’s 5.7 million small businesses to resolve payment disputes
• tackling larger businesses’ unfair payment practices to drive culture change
• providing information via its new website to help small businesses with late payment issues
• receiving late payment complaints from small businesses.

There are certain criteria that must be met in order to access complaint-handling support from SBC which are detailed here. If the SBC is able to help you with your complaint, it will aim to make its recommendation within six weeks. An SBC decision is not legally binding, so court action and other options will still be open to you, should you require them.

If you are experiencing cashflow problems, you can find helpful general advice on the ‘managing cashflow’ page of our website. You can also ask us for advice on accessing funding, finance and grants. Contact one of our offices or enquire online.

For information of users: This material is published for the information of clients. It provides only an overview of the regulations in force at the date of publication, and no action should be taken without consulting the detailed legislation or seeking professional advice. Therefore no responsibility for loss occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of the material can be accepted by the authors or the firm.