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427 – Late payments just don’t go away

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18 April 2010

Business Car Manager: Editor’s Blog

I DON’T know how you’re finding the economic climate at the moment. As far as Business Car Manager goes, I feel quite upbeat about things – particularly in the light of how I was feeling in Q4 2009. Not that I’m complacent. Far from it. The pressure is still really on. And the hours I’m working to make it happen are ever increasing.

But how have you found getting paid by suppliers? Generally, I find small businesses pay really well. There are some exceptions of course. But generally, because small businesses know the impact of delayed payments, they pay on the nose. I certainly do at Business Car Manager.

It’s always the big companies that are the problem. Or media agencies (but that’s often the same thing). And it’s usually a combination of holding onto funds to enhance their cash flow; or bureaucratic incompetence. Or both.

I recently received payment from a commercial venture that we were involved in that was shelved in 2008 – without completing the schedule. I tried to be as responsive as possible; suggesting different solutions to the problems the company was facing; being as flexible as possible – the company was a number one in its market. But to no avail. Finally, just last month, I received payment for a cancellation fee…that’s some 18 months after the original schedule was supposed to have finished its initial agreement period.

So it came as no surprise to see this report from NatWest and RBS suggesting that the late payment mountain faced by SME businesses had grown to

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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