Show us the money! The grim ripple effect of business late payments
Ink Business Focus
You’re reading the paid-for edition of The Ink - curated community news straight to your inbox in association with Swindon Link. Having upgraded to paid, you are supporting the most exciting and ambitious media venture in the South West enabling us to keep you informed and up to date with everything Swindon. By subscribing you have given us the ability to send news analysis, updates and features direct to your inbox. We always welcome feedback so please let us know how we are doing in the comments. And please tell your friends and families about us as every new subscriber makes us stronger.
This is the sixth of our monthly ‘Business’ columns which will normally appear on the first Thursday of every month. The second Thursday will be ‘Education’, and the third Thursday of the month will be ‘Heritage’, and the fourth Thursday will be ‘Food & Drink’.
If you are a free subscriber you will only be able to read the first part of this briefing and will need to upgrade to paid to read the whole thing. You won’t regret it.
From Monday we will be introducing our new Ink Sports Focus led by STFC reporter Sam Morshead.
Winter Offer
Throughout the winter The Ink is offering new subscribers three months free on a paid subscription. To take advantage of this press the link below…
New Year, new ethics for getting paid on time
By business owner and journalist Fiona Scott
One new year resolution for me (and I hardly ever make resolutions) is to clamp down on late payment within my own business and I’ll be calling out any culprits in public – something I’ve never done before.
I put my own reputation at risk by doing this; however it’s time to take a stand. I call on other Swindon small business owners to do the same.
A county court judgement against a small business is a public domain document yet we, in the UK, are often too ‘shy’ to make it public. We consider it to be ‘bad practice’ to name and shame bad payers. Why is that?
Why do we allow some business owners to thrive on late payment? To start one business, ensure it goes bust and then set up another? To keep leaving a trail of devastation in their wake enabling them to keep on ripping people off? Why if we call it out are we the ‘baddie’?
People in business who fleece consumers will often end up in court for shoddy workmanship – yet it’s rare for someone who is in the business-to-business space to be called out for non-payment.