A new campaign designed to stamp out late payments from the UK’s biggest businesses has gained the backing of the Forum of Private Business (FPB).
The ‘Be Fair – Pay on Time’ campaign is calling for the top 100 FTSE companies to sign the Prompt Payment Code (PPC).
Businesses have to agree to Suppliers paying suppliers within a fixed and reasonable timeframe agreed at the start of the contract, without retrospectively changing payment terms and conditions.
A letter encouraging sign-up to the code, which received support from a number of leading business organisations, was sent to the top 100 FTSE companies that had not already agreed to the PPC initiative.
Currently only a quarter are signed up to the voluntary code, so it is hoped that the letter will encourage dozens more to sign up, benefitting suppliers up and down the country.
The FPB’s Chief Executive Officer, Phil Orford, felt that the UK’s biggest companies should set a good example as the leaders of the private sector, “This is something all large firms could and should subscribe to.”
“It asks nothing more from responsible businesses than to pay suppliers as and when agreed, without changing terms and conditions retrospectively.”
“This is their (Top 100 FTSE companies) chance to lead by example on what's an extremely important issue for small businesses,” he concluded.