The Enterprise Bill says it is going to help small businesses deal with late payments. The question is: do you use this scheme and most likely lose the client or do you simply put up with later payments than the agreed terms?
In an ideal world, the sheer threat of this should help reduce the level of late payments that small businesses have to suffer, but we will wait and see. I just wonder how many real teeth this bill and the proposed Small Business Commissioner will actually have.
The briefing paper explains how small businesses will be impacted by the Bill. For example, the proposed Small Business Commissioner will arbitrate in complaints made against late-paying larger firms, through a specific complaints scheme for SMEs.