THE Government has won praise from Worcestershire's small business owners for tacking the problem of late payment.

Judi Brazkiewicz, Federation of Small Businesses chairman for Worcestershire, said: "Late payment is crippling some businesses. The might that big corporations wield puts many of its suppliers at risk. Cash flow is king and any pinch point can significantly hamper a small businesses ability to cover regular overheads such as rent, business rates and wages. The knock on effects of late payment are many and varied and I hope that the new commissioner will understand the plight of small businesses and bring about sustainable solutions which will support small and medium sized enterprises as they develop into tomorrow’s big employers.”

Her comments follow the Government's proposal for a small business commissioner to help tackle late payment in line with its election manifesto promise.

John Allan, national chairman of the FSB, added: "We are encouraged by the Government’s consultation process which will include businesses of all sizes. But it’s important to ensure that the new commissioner has the confidence of the entire business community, a clear focus on tackling supply chain bullying, and sufficient powers to intervene and resolve late-payment disputes in a timely and effective way. The commissioner will have a unique overview of patterns of bad practice in late payment culture and should have the ability to refer these to the Competition and Markets Authority if those practices are considered harmful to the working of the market.

“Recent FSB research found that only one in five of our members are confident the current prompt payment code will be enough to address the UK’s poor payment culture. In addition, the EU late payment directive from March 2013 is simply being ignored by many large and multi-national companies to the detriment of small businesses and the sustainability of their supply chain.

“Late payment culture in a company is set at board level. It’s something that chief executives and board members in big businesses must take responsibility for and put at the top of their agendas. Big businesses must respect the supply chain and stop using smaller businesses as a credit line by delaying payments and applying bullying tactics.”