Council signs pledge to pay bills on time

The FSB has been campaigning following feedback from its members that invoices dated for payment within 30 days were sometimes taking 60 or 90 days to actually be paid.

Fylde Borough Council has recommitted its efforts to paying its suppliers as quickly as possible, and has agreed to ask its suppliers to pay quickly too so that good practice is shared.

Gary Lovatt, FSB Regional Chairman for Lancashire & Cumbria says:

“Late payment is extremely damaging to small businesses, many of whom have had their business account overdrafts withdrawn and continue to have difficulty accessing finance from mainstream sources.

“We applaud Fylde Borough Council’s commitment to supporting our campaign for all to ‘Pay on Time’.

“If we can keep money circulating it will give small businesses the increased confidence which can help to drive economic growth.”

A Fylde Borough Council spokesman said: “Fylde Council is fully aware of the difficulties than many small businesses and does not want to add to those problems.

“Small businesses are an essential part of the Fylde and the wider economy and we have all heard horror stories about businesses driven into difficulties by complacent and slow paying customers.”

A study of UK good business practice by Crunch Accounting this month revealed which UK regions were home to the best and the worst businesses when it comes to paying invoices.

Blackpool tops the table, with invoices paid on average within seven days, 16 days faster than the national average of 23.

Darren Fell, managing director of Crunch, said: “Cash flow is the lifeblood of business. Firms elsewhere should take pointers from Blackpool.”

Follow us on twitter @The_Gazette and like our page on facebook to keep up with all the latest news.