Across the country, two out of five small to medium enterprise-owners said the tendency is increasing for business-owners to pay invoices late.
One in five firms say that chasing late payments became a significant issue and is impacting cash flow. However, the majority of respondents (64%) were unaware of the European Late Payment Directive, which is due to be implemented in March 2013. The directive offers payment deadlines and encourages interest-charging on payments over 60 days late.
Damon Walford, managing director of Aldermore Invoice Finance, said: “Late payments are a continuing drain on small and medium sized business owners in the UK. It’s critically important, at a time when we’re looking for SMEs to drive the economy out of recession, that they are freed from the shackles of late payments.
Other research by BACS suggests more than one million UK SMEs are facing late payments worth almost £36.4bn. The average UK SME has to wait 43.4 days beyond payment terms for their invoices to be settled and business owners spend, on average, three weeks a year chasing overdue payments.
Established in 2009, Aldermore has lent more than £1bn to 12,000 SME customers.
