Late payments 'costing businesses billions'

Date: 31st March 2010

British businesses waste £1.9 billion each year chasing late payments from clients and customers, new research has shown.

A report from financial services firm Bibby has revealed that more than one-third of UK businesses are being forced to wait longer for clients to settle invoices than they were 12 months ago.

According to the firm, 48,000 enterprises have had to chase a payment more than 11 times to see the debt settled and 336,000 businesses spend three days of each month following up outstanding amounts.

Bibby UK chief executive Edward Rimmer said: "Across this nation, businesses are fighting for survival with sustaining a healthy cash flow one of the biggest challenges.

"We need to support one another and do everything possible not to succumb to the easy route of late payment as it can become a vicious circle which halts the purchasing cycle and, ultimately, can disrupt the supply chain, not to mention the impact on the goodwill and trust of other customers and suppliers."