The UK Independence Party is the party of smaller business. We want to help smaller business owners make money, keep costs down, minimise taxes, find business opportunities, and generate funds for growth.

According to a recent report by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), late payments from customers are still a big problem for about half of the UK’s smaller businesses.

The FSB surveyed 1,300 small business owners and sole traders. Figures show that between April and June half of those surveyed reported late payments, while one in five said the issue was getting worse as a result of the fall-out from the global pandemic and adverse economic conditions.

It is unfair when big businesses squeeze smaller businesses “for free credit”.  Smaller businesses need to get their money in promptly. Late payments from customers create cash flow problems, which inhibit their ability to trade, leading to increasing debt, uncertainty, mental health problems for the owners or even business failure.

In 2019, the Tory government promised reforms to reduce late payments. In October 2020, the government proposed new powers for the Small Business Commissioner, (who mediates on payment disputes), including the ability to fine poor payers. However, these are just proposals. All talk no action.

The Commissioner is supposed to issue reports that “name and shame” businesses guilty of poor payment practices, but it has not done so since February 2020.

The focus of The UK Independence Party’s business policy is to help UK families clothe their children, put food on the table, pay the mortgage and pay university tuition fees rather than line the pockets of invisible big corporate shareholders in New York or Los Angeles.

Now that we are in the “new normal”, the Tory government should be making far better progress towards getting smaller businesses paid on time.

The UK Independence Party calls on the Tory government to take stronger action to clamp down on late payers.

The UK Independence Party will direct HMRC to conduct thorough investigations into big business and public sector bodies that repeatedly make late payments to SMEs.

The UK Independence Party will create an anonymous reporting system and we will levy fines proportionate to the amount of delayed payments, which will escalate for repeat offenders.

If you are a small business and affected by this article, please get in touch, or consider joining the UK Independence Party to help us to support smaller UK businesses.

Steve Grimes

UK Independence Party - Spokesman for Business, Trade and Foreign Affairs