2 days ago

38 min

£11bn a Year and 38 Firms a Day: The Fight to End Late Payment | Emma Jones CBE

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Late payment costs the UK economy almost £11 billion a year. By the government’s own data, 38 businesses close every day because of it, and business owners hit by late payment spend an average of 86 hours a year chasing it. Yet almost nobody charges the late-payment interest they're entitled to. But it's just how it is, right?

Emma Jones CBE has sat on both sides of the invoice. She founded and sold Enterprise Nation, and since June 2025 she has been the UK’s Small Business Commissioner. The Commercial Payments Bill is moving through Parliament, and when it becomes law (expected by the end of 2027), her office will have the power to adjudicate, investigate repeat offenders, fine them, and go public. She also admits that, as a founder, she never charged interest on a late invoice either.

Listen to this episode if you want to find out:

  • Why you can push back on 90-day payment terms today, before the law has even passed
  • What “automatic” interest at 8% above base rate changes, and how it takes away an awkward conversation
  • Why most late payments aren’t down to bad intentions
  • What the Fair Payment Code’s Gold tier tells you about a client before you sign
  • Why investors and government buyers are starting to care how quickly businesses pay suppliers
  • Why 60 days might not be the UK’s final answer
  • The catch-22 that still keeps small firms out of public sector contracts a decade on

Links and references

Chapters

00:37 — Owed money? What you can do today

01:30 — Why you can push back on 90-day terms right now

02:34 — AI chasers and a casework team most people don’t know exists

03:53 — A stick with teeth: what the Commercial Payments Bill changes

06:46 — Fines, investigations and going public

07:55 — The interest nobody charges (including the Commissioner)

10:26 — Rewiring the supplier platforms

12:30 — It’s not who you think: why invoices really go unpaid

14:36 — Why investors should check how you pay

17:17 — Spotting a slow payer before you sign

18:52 — £11bn, 38 a day, 86 hours

21:49 — From founder to public servant

25:24 — The world is watching, and the EU blinked

28:18 — What’s next: admin, one business ID and procurement

33:40 — SME safaris: getting civil servants out of Whitehall

35:29 — Why “too much regulation” headlines don’t help

36:32 — The 90-day contract that became 60

38:48 — Where to find help

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Thanks for listening.

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