More firms hit by late payments in the South than anywhere else

More small businesses are hit by delayed invoices payments in London and the South East than any other part of the country.

The high concentration of small and medium-sized firms puts the region top of Britain’s ‘late payments’ league, according to latest research from Bacs, the organisation behind Direct Debit and Direct Credit.

Nearly 400,000 enterprises were affected, with an average �23,000 owed to individual companies at any one time.

More companies in the south are owned money—but on average not as much as the Midlands with debts climbing to �38,000.

“Late payment causes small businesses to use up staff hours chasing invoices,” said Bacs’ marketing head Mike Hutchinson. “Cash flow is an essential business priority, particularly in a period of economic uncertainty.”

Total value of late payments in the south now stands at a massive �8.7 billion, with more than half the firms experiencing late payments.