Friday 19th April, 2013

The Forum of Private Business has accused Selfridges of putting its suppliers between a rock and a hard place by forcing them to accept a settlement discount of at least 3% in return for paying invoices within 60 days. The retailer had previously had payment terms of around 75 days. Suppliers were also given the option of a sliding scale of early settlement discounts depending on when they opted to have the account settled - 5% within 21 days and 4% within 30 days.

The Forum said: "While we understand the pressures being faced by high street retailers, it seems neither fair nor right that they are asking suppliers to take a big hit in this way, especially without any meaningful discussion beforehand."

A spokesman for Selfridges said that the changes had been made back in October to "align the conditions of the payment of all its suppliers in line with current industry standards."

The news comes after a number of other high profile retailers such as Debenhams and Laura Ashley have announced similar changes to their payment methods.