Tuesday 19th February, 2013

According to research by Platform Black, an alternative Finance provider, business owners are seeing their cashflow, and their patience, tested to the limit by late-paying clients.

The survey of hundreds of SMEs reveals both the scale and the impact of late payments on Britain’s businesses.

The key findings reveal nearly two thirds (65%) of those polled said that their clients are taking longer to pay their invoices than they did a year ago. A third (33%) said that at least half of their clients routinely pay their debts late.

The extent to which late-paying clients are stretching payment terms is also shown. With more than three quarters (78%) of late-payers found to pay more than 10 days late – and three out of 10 (31%) paying more than a month late.

Platform Black CEO Christopher Shaw commented: “Even vibrant companies with a strong order book are being stretched to breaking point by a perfect storm of late-paying clients and banks that are reluctant to offer credit".

He added: Our research confirms what many businesses have long suspected – that growing numbers of SMEs risk falling into a double-pronged liquidity trap.