ISME seeking mandatory 30-day credit period

ISME has accused bigbusiness and state agencies of deliberately delaying payments to the SME sector and has urged Government to introduce a mandatory 30-day credit period to stop small companies going bust.

A new survey by the small firms lobby group shows that as much as 44% of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) are currently experiencing repayment delays of three months or more, even though the average payment period is actually down slightly from 76 to 73 days.

“Late payments have always been a problem for small businesses and this has intensified as state bodies and accountancy-led big business take longer and longer to pay during the current recession,” according to ISME chief executive Mark Fielding.