Small businesses at most risk from late payments, says BCC

Date: 12th June 2009

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has suggested that smaller businesses are more vulnerable than bigger businesses to the financial perils of late payments.

The BCC comment comes after the Barclays Local Business annual Late Payments report said small and medium-sized businesses were owed more than £10 billion on any given day.

Due to a slighter cash flow in comparison to larger corporations, the BCC suggested that outstanding debt poses a significant problem.

A spokesperson for the BCC said: "It seems that small and medium-sized businesses are most vulnerable to [the problems caused by late payment] because they don't necessarily have the same capital base that a large company has."

The approximate £10 billion owed to small and medium businesses is a result of late payments from both suppliers and customers.

Over the past 12 months, small and medium businesses have lost close to £793 million.