A very large retail shop not paying SME suppliers

Wendy has asked if there is any protection for SME's from being paid late by large businesses. We have a legislation which I believe works but can become expensive and time consuming when solicitors get involved.

So what is the solution here?

Do small businesses just continue to do nothing but put up and shut up when it comes to late payment (and except the consequences of being paid late)?

If a claim from an SME does include legals and time but it is a clear cut case of late payment by the large company then surely the judge should support the claim and award costs accordingly. Or am I expecting too much from our legal system? (I'm ignoring the fact that the debtor may take other actions to avoid payment).

What about passing the debt to a third party (debt recovery) on a no win no fee? Then you don't need to worry about how much of your time is taken up.

It's a two way thing here. Big businesses (or large retailers) cannot survive without the army of small businesses in their supply chain. It should only be fair that a supplier is paid on time. When my business went into liquidation in 1995 due to late payment there was no legislation in place. Today under the legislation, a liquidator could aggressively chase any unpaid or late paid debts going back 6 years! That doesn't help the business that has gone into liquidation but late payers should be aware of that fact. And that a supplier has up to 6 years to make a claim.

If I was the owner of a large business it would seem like good sense to pay suppliers on time. Not only is it the right thing to do but in return you will get a much better service.

I'm ranting on a bit but there has got to be a way forward with this legislation and there is no reason why small businesses cannot lobby for change to make it easier for SME's to be paid on time or collect interest and compensation without fear of loosing the client (and that is where the biggest problem lies for most).

We have the right connection at the B.E.R.R. to lobby and starting with changes to the cost of implementing the late payment legislation above a certain level seems like a good place to start.

I would like to hear from a debt recovery agency for their opinions on claims against large companies and their experience of success versus costs/time involved.

David