Plans were outlined yesterday to crack down on the big name companies who fail to pay suppliers on time.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused some of Britain’s best-known businesses of putting inexcusable financial pressure on the nation’s small enterprises.
Speaking at a Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) event, Mr Corbyn alleged that Marks & Spencer, E.ON and BT were some of those who were profiting from not settling invoices in a timely manner.
The FSB itself has estimated that prompt payments to suppliers could prevent as many as 50,000 firms collapsing each year.
Mr Corbyn vowed that a future Labour government would “wage war” on those corporations who failed in their responsibilities.
“Cash is king for any business, and big companies are managing their cash by borrowing – interest free – from their suppliers,” he said.
“Some of the biggest names in business are holding cash piles that don’t actually belong to them. It’s a national scandal. And it’s stopping businesses from growing and causing thousands to go bust every year. It kills jobs and holds back economic growth.”
Labour quoted credit reports in its attack on a number of household names, although many of the businesses named claimed that they didn’t recognise the figures.
BT said: “We follow the principles of the government’s Prompt Payment Code and offer suppliers the opportunity to be paid early through the BT supplier finance scheme, which is one of the largest such schemes in the UK.”
And M&S added: “99 per cent of our supplier invoices are paid on time and we are signatories to the Prompt Payment Code.”
Labour will hope that promising a tough response to one of the main challenges facing many SMEs may burnish its credentials among smaller employers.
But the Lib Dem Treasury spokeswoman, Susan Kramer, said that Mr Corbyn didn’t “understand or respect” businesses.