Latest news with #suppliers
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘It's time to pay up', says Starmer in late payments crackdown
Firms which persistently pay their suppliers late are set to face fines worth potentially millions of pounds as the Prime Minister warned that 'it's time to pay up'. Sir Keir Starmer has said 'too many hardworking people are being forced to spend precious hours chasing payments' in a process which he described as 'exhausting'. As part of a drive to support small businesses, the Government is set to unveil plans to give the small business commissioner bolstered powers to fine large companies which persistently pay their suppliers late. The commissioner will also receive new powers to enforce a rule that customers must pay their supplier within 30 days of receiving a valid invoice, unless otherwise agreed, with spot checks to help identify breaches. Upcoming legislation will also introduce maximum payment terms of 60 days, reducing to 45 days. 'From builders and electricians to freelance designers and manufacturers — too many hardworking people are being forced to spend precious hours chasing payments instead of doing what they do best – growing their businesses,' Sir Keir said. 'It's unfair, it's exhausting and it's holding Britain back. 'So, our message is clear, it's time to pay up. 'Through our small business plan, we're not only tackling the scourge of late payments once and for all, but we're giving small business owners the backing and stability they need for their business to thrive, driving growth across the country through our plan for change.' The crackdown on late payments is part of a wider Government package and sits alongside a move to pump £4 billion of financial support into small business start-ups and growth. This is set to include £1 billion for new firms, with 69,000 start-up loans and mentoring support. 'This country is home to some of the brightest entrepreneurs and innovative businesses in the world, and we want to unleash their full potential by giving them back time and money to do what they do best – growing our local economies,' Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said. 'Our small business plan – the first in over a decade – is slashing unnecessary admin costs, making it easier for businesses to set up shop and giving SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) the financial backing they need.' Andrew Griffith, the Conservative shadow business secretary, said: 'Cracking down on late payments will be welcome for small business but will mean nothing for the 218,000 businesses that have closed under Labour. 'The reality for businesses under Labour is a doubling of business rates, a £25 billion jobs tax and a full-on strangulation of employment red tape. 'Only the Conservatives are on the side of the makers and will support businesses across Britain to create jobs and wealth.'
The Independent
7 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
‘It's time to pay up', says Starmer in late payments crackdown
Firms which persistently pay their suppliers late are set to face fines worth potentially millions of pounds as the Prime Minister warned that 'it's time to pay up'. Sir Keir Starmer has said 'too many hardworking people are being forced to spend precious hours chasing payments' in a process which he described as 'exhausting'. As part of a drive to support small businesses, the Government is set to unveil plans to give the small business commissioner bolstered powers to fine large companies which persistently pay their suppliers late. The commissioner will also receive new powers to enforce a rule that customers must pay their supplier within 30 days of receiving a valid invoice, unless otherwise agreed, with spot checks to help identify breaches. Upcoming legislation will also introduce maximum payment terms of 60 days, reducing to 45 days. 'From builders and electricians to freelance designers and manufacturers — too many hardworking people are being forced to spend precious hours chasing payments instead of doing what they do best – growing their businesses,' Sir Keir said. 'It's unfair, it's exhausting and it's holding Britain back. 'So, our message is clear, it's time to pay up. 'Through our small business plan, we're not only tackling the scourge of late payments once and for all, but we're giving small business owners the backing and stability they need for their business to thrive, driving growth across the country through our plan for change.' The crackdown on late payments is part of a wider Government package and sits alongside a move to pump £4 billion of financial support into small business start-ups and growth. This is set to include £1 billion for new firms, with 69,000 start-up loans and mentoring support. 'This country is home to some of the brightest entrepreneurs and innovative businesses in the world, and we want to unleash their full potential by giving them back time and money to do what they do best – growing our local economies,' Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said. 'Our small business plan – the first in over a decade – is slashing unnecessary admin costs, making it easier for businesses to set up shop and giving SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) the financial backing they need.' Andrew Griffith, the Conservative shadow business secretary, said: 'Cracking down on late payments will be welcome for small business but will mean nothing for the 218,000 businesses that have closed under Labour. 'The reality for businesses under Labour is a doubling of business rates, a £25 billion jobs tax and a full-on strangulation of employment red tape. 'Only the Conservatives are on the side of the makers and will support businesses across Britain to create jobs and wealth.'
Telegraph
14 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Boohoo ‘owes suppliers hundreds of thousands of pounds'
Boohoo is facing mounting pressure after suppliers accused the fast-fashion firm of failing to pay them hundreds of thousands of pounds on time. The company, which is rebranding as Debenhams, has been rebuked for delaying payments to its suppliers, with claims it has ignored requests for it to reimburse clothes-makers. Speaking to Drapers, one UK supplier alleged they were owed several hundred thousand pounds for products they had delivered to Boohoo over a three-month period. Another said they were waiting for tens of thousands of pounds worth of payments which were six weeks overdue. Boohoo declined to comment on the report. The criticism comes just weeks after The Telegraph revealed that customers were also facing delays to repayments, with the company accused of failing to pay out refunds. In June, dozens of customers took to social media to criticise Boohoo for late payments. This week, some claimed they had referred Boohoo to Trading Standards for the failure to return their money. Writing on TrustPilot, one customer accused Boohoo of 'shocking, disgusting service' after waiting more than three weeks to receive their money back on a package they returned. Another claimed they would never use Boohoo again after spending weeks trying to get a refund. Boohoo last month admitted it was taking longer for customers to receive refunds, saying: 'We're aware that some customers haven't received their refunds as quickly as usual and we're working to resolve that.' It comes as the company races to finalise a refinancing deal, with sources suggesting an announcement about a new debt package is imminent. Boohoo is closing in on a £175m debt deal, with US investment giant TPG expected to provide a significant amount of the new funding. The refinancing talks come against a backdrop of sliding sales at Boohoo. It reported a 16pc fall in revenues in the year to February, as it battled mounting competition from Chinese fast-fashion company Shein. Figures last year revealed that Shein had overtaken Boohoo when measured by UK sales. Boohoo has sought to rebrand as Debenhams with bosses saying they are hopeful the online department store will become the 'driving force of the business' and 'lead the group recovery'. Frasers Group, a major shareholder in Boohoo, voted to block its name change to Debenhams earlier this year, meaning it is still listed as Boohoo on Aim. However, it has updated its corporate branding and main market ticker to Debenhams Group. It follows a scuffle between Boohoo management and Frasers' Mike Ashley this year. Frasers had sought to install its founder Mr Ashley as Boohoo's new chief executive. Boohoo shareholders voted down a proposal to add him to its board.
Telegraph
17 hours ago
- General
- Telegraph
Maybe it's the snob factor, but I can't bring myself to AstroTurf my garden
When I bought my house a few summers ago, one of the only nice things about it was in the back garden. It boasts an enormous magnolia tree with beautiful pink blossoms in spring, and a thick canopy of leaves in summer. We completely redid the house from top to bottom, including the garden, which was reduced to rubble and mud after a side and rear kitchen extension. We laid a new grass lawn (against the advice of our gardener), which looked lush and healthy until the autumn. That was when the trouble started. The magnolia shed hundreds of leaves daily over our small lawn, creating a thick carpet of them which, if we didn't religiously rake and scoop up each night, would lead to a horrible slimy layer underneath. I confess, we didn't keep up with the raking, and our lovely lawn perished. Come spring, the grass looked so dreadful we simply had to replace it, and we faced the classic modern middle-class dilemma: install real grass or throw in the towel and go for AstroTurf. We were shown photographs of upmarket artificial grass in high-end gardens that looked pretty realistic, and of course, the practical benefits were hugely attractive. It would need no watering, no cutting, and crucially, it would still look perfectly lush even after an autumn of heavy leaf fall. And yet, we still couldn't bring ourselves to do it. A huge factor was the price. Suppliers of 'premium' fake lawns in London clearly know it's big business, and they charge through the nose for it. I suspect the fake grass industry has turned into a bit of a racket, as we could barely believe the price of the quote, which was thousands of pounds. We could have laid fresh turf every year for at least five years for the same price as laying artificial lawn once. There's also undeniably a snob factor around fake grass, since some view it as aesthetically and environmentally inferior to real grass. I have never been a huge fan of the modern 'Love Island' pristine garden aesthetic, with lots of white wash, clean lines and immaculate bright green lawns. For my own space, I had in mind an imperfect English country garden with a real lawn, beds of pretty hydrangeas and clematis, and jasmine climbing the fence. I wouldn't care if someone judged my lawn for being fake if I thought it was the right choice for my garden, but I do worry whether the stigma could affect our house price if we were to sell eventually. Perhaps that's another reason why I resisted. Overall finish matters hugely when calculating house prices in our area, and I worry that while splashing out on hugely expensive fake grass wouldn't add any value, installing poorly-fitted AstroTurf might actually reduce the asking price. This is especially pertinent since the entire lawn is extremely visible through large Crittall-style doors at the back of the house. Whether to fake it or not is a hot debate among friends in my local area. Busy middle-class parents love to moan about the poor health of their grass lawns, which when they're trying to hold down demanding jobs, raise children, exercise, eat healthily and have a social life, really are some way down the list of priorities and a complete and utter pain in the backside to maintain. I'd probably find it easier to give in and go artificial if I hadn't grown up in the countryside with views of grass fields, trees and hedgerows as far as the eye could see. Now, living in a place dominated by concrete and bricks, giving up on having a real lawn feels painful. We've vowed to be better at picking up leaves this autumn, and to reseed the lawn in the spring, and for now we will carry on watering it during dry spells. We've learnt the hard way that keeping a real lawn is a labour of love, but whether our efforts will be enough to save our latest batch of turf remains to be seen. If not, then we might just have to get over ourselves, and the cost, and install some plastic grass.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
West country builder accused of fraud spent £28,000 on Rolex
A builder accused of fraud amounting to more than £2m spent £28,650 on a Rolex watch while being chased for payment by suppliers, a court has Killick, 56, is charged with 46 counts of fraud across the West country between December 2019 and November 2021 – all of which he denies – relating to unfinished renovations. Mr Killick – who is also known as Marc Cole – bought several luxury watches and stayed multiple times at the luxury Celtic Manor resort in Newport, Wales, jurors at Bristol Crown Court were told. The builder, of Paulton in Somerset, had told police he had always intended to complete the work, and that he had bought the watches so they could be pawned to help cashflow. A number of different luxury watches were repeatedly pawned and redeemed over the course of 2020 and 2021 by Mr Killick, the court heard. He told police that some of his trips to the Celtic Manor with his wife were personal but that others were business trips, paid for by his jury was also told about his previous record in court – namely, a bankruptcy order made against him in 2006, and three instances in which he had pleaded guilty to fraud were also told he had been in prison before. Over Monday afternoon, the court heard from a number of trade suppliers who said Mr Killick owed them money. One timber merchant said he was owed £11,000 by the time Mr Killick's account was closed in 2021, while a kitchen supplier said the builder owed them £2,000.A worktop supplier said he was owed in excess of another £2,000. The trial continues.
