After a year in office, Britain’s Small Business Commissioner is about to be given real teeth, and he intends to use them.
Emma Jones CBE celebrated her first year as the UK’s Small Business Commissioner, capping twelve months of hard campaigning on behalf of the country’s 5.5 million small businesses in the hope of the biggest shake-up of pay legislation in a generation. Since taking on the role, the Enterprise Nation founder has trained him in speeding up payment times, using digital tools to serve small traders, and securing the cash flow that keeps the nation’s small businesses alive.
Time is not an accident. His milestone comes as the government’s Trade Payments Bill, also known as the Small Business Protection Bill, is finalizing its passage through Parliament. The legislation is designed to give Britain the toughest late payment regime in the G7 and, most importantly, to transform the Office of the Small Business Commissioner (OSBC) from an arbitration service into a genuine enforcement agency with powers to investigate and fine.
For anyone who has run a small business, the problem at hand needs little explanation. Late payments drain an estimated £11 billion from the economy every year, and the personal cost of that figure is something Jones returns to again and again.
“Having started, scaled, and sold businesses myself, I know firsthand how exhausting it is to chase away money you’ve already earned,” he said, recalling his first year. “This year, our small but mighty team is focused on reducing the hours business owners waste on unproductive tasks so they can reinvest that energy into growth.”
He is not blunt with the pull scale. “Late payment is not only a hindrance to administration, it is a major obstacle to doing well,” he said. Joint research from the Department of Business and Trade and the OSBC, he noted, shows that UK small businesses lose a staggering 133 million hours of time every year chasing overdue invoices, an average of 86 hours for every company concerned. “This is stolen time directly from product development, training and job growth. As we look to the year ahead, the new law represents a big change. It gives us the teeth we need to end this culture of delay and unlock the full potential of our small business community.”
Jones spent his inaugural year reshaping the way OSBC reaches out to and supports small firms. Acting as an independent advocate for small businesses and SMEs pressured by large corporate supply chains, his office recovered £1.5 million for small businesses caught in late payments, building on the Commissioner’s extensive record of recovering money owed to suppliers.
On the digital side, he has published new guidance on the payment promise signed by the UK’s biggest eCommerce marketplaces including eBay, Temu, PayPal and SumUp, and produced AI advice tailored for small firms. Behind the scenes, he worked closely with the Department of Business and Trade and research partners to lay the groundwork for the upcoming Bill, using international best practices to shape it.
Cultural change has been a constant theme. More than 600 businesses across the UK have now signed up to the Fair Payment Code, including HSBC, Barclays, NatWest, Nationwide, Heathrow Airport, Amey, Kier, AXA, Boeing, BT and Welsh Water. Jones also increased the office’s social media reach and launched an interview series, ‘Make the money go’, with leading voices in the fair payment space. Personally, he has met over 5,000 people and conducted SME Safaris every month, sending civil servants to meet founders in their real business environments.
The coming year will be defined by businessmen learning about the Trade Payments (Delayed Payments) Bill which is about to enter Parliament. The government has billed the package as the toughest late payment package in more than 25 years, and the data proves it.
Under the changes, the Commissioner will gain powers to investigate the ongoing bad payment practices of large businesses, adjudicate disputes outside the court system, and impose financial penalties on repeat offenders that could reach tens of millions of pounds. The OSBC will also be able to act on anonymous complaints, protecting small suppliers from the threat of corporate retaliation when they speak up.
Two other steps go to the heart of the cash flow problem. Large companies will be limited to 60-day payment terms when dealing with smaller suppliers, and statutory interest of 8% above the Bank of England’s base rate will automatically apply to overdue invoices, stripping companies of their ability to secure contracts without late fees. The Commissioner’s new powers were confirmed when the Bill was introduced to Parliament, along with a wider crackdown on late paying firms.
Before the law comes into force, Jones is focused on keeping the quality of casework and support high, on accepting more firms on the Fair Payment Code, and exploring a future where the office covers some of its own costs while positioning the UK as a global leader in the transition to a fast payment economy.
After a year of intercession, in other words, the Messenger is preparing for a year of law enforcement. For the 5.5 million small businesses they represent, the difference can be measured in both hours and pounds.
