The challenge of late payment continues to worsen for businesses in the North West, according to new research from the insolvency and restructuring trade body R3.
It shows the number of overdue invoices past the payment deadline owed to firms in the region has risen for the sixth month in a row to almost 830,500 – up by 11 per cent since March.
R3’s analysis of data provided by Creditsafe also reveals that the number of companies in the region which were behind with their bills themselves also increased, though more slowly. Over 60,500 North West companies had overdue bills in October, a rise of almost two per cent since March.
R3’s North West chair Allan Cadman, who is also an insolvency practitioner with Poppleton & Appleby, says: “Late payment is a real challenge for companies and one that seems to be getting worse. It can have a real ‘domino effect’ by creating cashflow problems for other businesses throughout the supply chain.
“Cash is king at any time, but particularly in a recession, and credit control should be a real priority for all businesses right now. Companies need to ensure invoices are sent out on time and don’t contain any mistakes that may delay payment, promptly chase any that become overdue and carry out credit checks on new customers.
“Businesses which are experiencing cashflow problems or struggling to pay their bills on time should seek professional advice and ensure they tackle these issues at an early stage, rather than waiting until the problem worsens.”
In a previous article we highlighted how Small Businesses have been urged to take debt collection action before its too late.
