Following complaints from small and medium-sized businesses, some of which are being forced to wait 180 days for payment from their large customers, business and enterprise minister Michael Fallon wrote to the CEOs of the largest 350 companies in the country.
The Daily Telegraph reports Fallon saying he was “going to war” with companies over the issue, giving them another month to sign up to the code before being named and shamed.
Major businesses such as Sainsburys, Aggreko and Morrisons are all planning on signing up to the code; while others, including Admiral, Amex, Aviva, Compass, GKN, Hammerson and Rio Tinto have yet to do so, according to the newspaper.
The UK government approach will no doubt receive a mixed response, with companies that are forced to pay quicker looking to recover the lost cash flow in other ways. One potential answer could be supply chain finance programmes, where suppliers get paid by banks using the credit rating of their much larger customers.
Image by field_tripz, CC Flickr.com
