Speeding up trade payments- Will Mandelson succeed or is it all political rhetoric?
Business secretary Peter Mandelson has his finger on the pulse of SME Britain, and knows only too well that the lack of credit from banks and late payment of trade invoices is putting a lot of small businesses into serious hot water. His latest initiative on getting a voluntary code of practice in place to ensure that big businesses pay their bills on time is well intentioned, but will it actually do any good? Back in October Peter mandelson pledged that government departments would help SME cash flow by ensuring that bills would be paid in a targeted 10 days. I wonder whether anyone out there in the real economy has seen this pledge become a reality over the last 60/70 days since the pledge was given? Are government depts paying up in 10 days?