Northern SMEs continue to feel late payment effects

NORTHERN small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have not escaped the effects of late payments according to new research from Bacs Payment Schemes Limited (Bacs), the company behind Direct Debit and Bacs Direct Credit.

New statistics indicate that for the third year in succession, the value of late payments owed to SMEs in the UK has increased, now reaching a staggering £30.4 billion. When questioned, 64% of SMEs in the North said they have experienced late payments at one time or another, with the number of SME’s in the North being affected having increased to 295,000 (a rise of 100,000 on 2008).

However despite these statistics, Northern SME’s seem to be faring better in the battle against overdue invoices than their Midland and Southern counterparts. Whilst the overall total owed to SMEs in the region is still a staggering £7.1billion, those organisations questioned said they were owed an average amount of £24,000, £4000 below the national average, and significantly less than the amount owed to Midlands SMEs which is on average £41,000.

Cashflow remains the main reason cited for overdue payments, as the financial downturn continues to impact on Great Britain’s economy, with 35% of Northern SMEs citing it as the main reason for stalling settling their invoices.

This is reflected in the length of time Northern SMEs are being forced to wait for payments beyond their agreed terms, which has increased an extra 9.5 days on 2008 to 36.4 days. This is despite more than half of companies now asking for payment no later than 30 days / end of month after receipt of invoice.

And the problem looks set to only get worse, with the research also showing that that over half of Northern SME’s agreed that if they are paid late they will pay their invoices later too, evidenced by more than a third reporting paying other organisations later in 2009 than in 2008.

Other Bacs stats showed:-

· 19% of Northern SMEs ask for payment on receipt of invoice – down from 21% in 2008

· 2% specify within 7 days – down from 9% in 2008

· 12% specify within 14 days – down from 14% in 2008

· 2% specify within 60 days – down from 7% in 2008

Michael Chambers, managing director of Bacs, said:- “Although overall UK figures show a growth in late payments, the North has showed strong resilience to the continuing economic downturn and has felt less impact than the rest of the country. However, whilst the value of outstanding late payments owed on average to Northern SMEs has only marginally increased on 2008 figures (from £21,000 to £24,000), the number of organisations feeling the pressure of overdue payments has seen a significant rise – around 100,000 more than in 2008. With our research showing that cashflow is the main reason for late payments, it is vital that businesses receive funds owed to them in accordance with the payment terms they set out, in order to stem a potential domino effect. Insisting on payment straight into bank accounts by Bacs Direct Credit can help with that. We strongly encourage any SME experiencing late payment difficulties to visit www.paymedirect.co.uk for guidance and advice on avoiding payment problems.”

Southport woman to support new Brainwave Centre Families

THE National charity Brainwave, which provides home based therapy programmes for children with cerebral palsy and other conditions such as development delay, recently appointed Sally Preston as their North West Regional Family Coordinator and is now announcing the opening of its third Centre in Birchwood, Warrington.

Sally, who lives in Southport, became involved with the Charity eighteen years ago when she took her daughter, Natalie, to the original Brainwave Centre in the South West. Such was her delight in what Brainwave's therapists managed to do to help her daughter, she decided to work for the Charity! Her role is to help families on Brainwave's programmes who live in the North West and who will now be attending the new Centre. Sally provides them with much needed information and emotional support. Sally is a qualified nursery nurse and has always worked with young children including those in Special Needs in main stream primary school.

Christine Cryne, Brainwave's Chief Executive Officer, said:- "Our enquiries are growing at over 30% year on year so the Trustees decided that we needed to expand. The families on our Programme have said how difficult it can be travelling long distances with children with disabilities so rather than expanding at our current Centres in Essex and Somerset, we chose to set up a new Centre on Warrington to reduce the travelling for families from the northern part of Britain."

The setting up of the new Centre has been funded by the October Club, a City of London charitable group.

The estimates are that there are some 130,000 families in the North West with children under 12 with disabilities and/or development delay. Currently, Brainwave is seeing 460 families each year, a very small proportion of those it could help.

Brainwave works with families to deliver individual home based therapy and exercise programmes that help children with disabilities and developmental delay to achieve their potential.

Places on the programme are available for children at the North West Centre. For more information see:- brainwave.org.uk also you can email or phone:- 01925 825547.

“Check-out” volunteering at Old Swan PDSA shop

THE leading veterinary charity PDSA is looking for enthusiastic people to join the volunteer team at its Old Swan shop. Volunteers are needed to serve customers and help raise funds for pets in need of vets.  Tina Harris, PDSA Shop Manager, says:- “Volunteering is an excellent way to make new friends and learn new skills to boost your CV while helping to raise vital funds for sick and injured pets. I’m appealing for volunteers who can help serve customers on a Monday or Saturday. No prior experience is necessary as PDSA provides an excellent training programme – great if you are looking to kick start a new career in retail. So, if you fancy trying something new, can spare a few hours per week and would like to learn more about volunteering for PDSA, please contact our National Volunteering Centre on freephone:- 0800 854194 or go to:- pdsa.org.uk/volunteering.”   PDSA is the first national charity to achieve the Investing in Volunteers award. This commitment to supporting volunteering recognises best practice and benchmarks working with volunteers against a national standard. Old Swan PDSA shop, located at 608 Prescott Road, raises funds to provide free veterinary treatment in the local area at PDSA PetAid hospitals in Liverpool.  For more details about Old Swan PDSA shop, please contact Shop Manager, Tina Harris, on:- 0151 259 4800. For more information about PDSA please visit:- pdsa.org.uk.