NOVEMBER 2018 | 3
News
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
ENDING LATE PAYMENTS
TO SMALL BUSINESSES
Small businesses will benefit from more timely payments under proposed new measures.
New measures to end the
problem of late payments to small
businesses by large companies
who abuse their position in the
market have been unveiled by
the Small Business Minister Kelly
Tolhurst as she launches a call for
evidence.
a huge opportunity
‘ for
economic growth ’
Nearly a quarter of UK busi-
nesses report that late payments
are a threat to their survival.
Tackling them represents a huge
opportunity for economic growth,
with research from the Federation
of Small Businesses suggesting
it could add £2.5 billion to the
UK economy and keep an extra
50,000 businesses open each
year.
The new proposals, build-
ing on action government has
already taken to improve access
to finance and the appointment of
the Small Business Commissioner,
include:
• the call for evidence to con-
sider the best way compa-
ny boards can put in place
responsible payment practic-
es throughout their supply
chain, for example giving
a non-executive director
specific responsibility for the
company’s prompt payment
performance
• promoting innovative tech-
nologies, such as the latest
accounting software, to help
small firms manage their
payments processes, and
empowering trade bodies to
highlight the best and worst
practices in payment behav-
iour
The publication of the new
call for evidence follows an
announcement by the Business
Secretary Greg Clark earlier this
week where he set out other
new measures to support small
businesses, including:
• the Small Business Commis-
sioner to join the Prompt
Payment Code’s Compliance
Board to support his role in
tackling late payment
• the Board to consider all
complaints made about
compliance as part of
regular reviews, and report
on all cases of signatories
being removed from the
Code
• further reform to the Code
to be considered including
whether the Small Business
Commissioner should have
a greater role in its admin-
istration
The government has also set the
ambition that all its departments
commit to paying 90% of undis-
puted invoices from SMEs within
5 days and ensure all government
departments have a dedicated
non-executive director responsible
for prompt payment, improving
payment practices and exploring
how better to use technology to
make payment processes more
efficient.
Some large businesses use late
payments and extended payment
terms to exert control over small
businesses in their supply chain,
and the government will now
seek the views of the UK business
community on how best to ensure
small businesses are given a fair
deal.
www.gov.uk
Avocet Turns the Spotlight on
Dark Nights Home Security
ABS maker urges homewoners to #StayHomeSecure
Avocet Hardware, which
produces the most secure
Euro cylinder lock on the
market, has launched a so-
cial media campaign aimed
at encouraging homeowners
to #StayHomeSecure follow-
ing yesterday’s end of British
Summer Time (BST) and the
onset of the dark nights.
the only people who look
‘ forward
to the clocks going
back are the burglars ’
Launched on October
22nd, 2018, the Brighouse
company’s six-week cam-
paign has been developed
in response to a spike in
burglaries over the winter
months – a time that sees
burglary rates rise an aston-
ishing 25 per cent.
Research has also shown
that Halloween and Bonfire
Night are statistically the
worst night of the year for
burglaries.
Derrick Purvis, marketing
manager of Avocet Hard-
ware said: “It’s become a
horrible, but sadly accepted
fact that the only people
who look forward to the
clocks going back are the
burglars, who gleefully get
back to work with the kind
of enthusiasm the rest of
us normally reserve for the
long, light nights of Spring
and Summer.”
The artwork up for grabs
features Ollie – a guard dog
forced into early retirement
– and his former nemesis,
Kat – an out-of-work cat
burglar. Both have end-
ed up on the scrap heap
following Ollie’s owners’
decision to install Avocet’s
snap secure ABS locks on
their home. The two will
be spending the six weeks
of the campaign trying out
a variety of new hobbies
in order to fill their now
jobless days.
www.avocet-hardware.co.uk