According to new research by Know-it, UK SMEs are currently owed £61 billion in late payments (a 20% increase compared to this time last year), and over 50,000 UK businesses cease trading every year due to this issue. Know-it also notes that a study by YouGov of UK businesses with up to 49 employees, found that 68% of the 500 businesses surveyed regularly experience late payments. That equates to four million businesses (and 1.7 million VAT-registered businesses) “struggling to get paid for products and services they’ve delivered.” Know-it adds: “there’s no doubt that the pandemic has made this dire situation worse, with increased levels of debt, reduced cashflows and some larger organisations looking to retain cash themselves — even freezing payments for some small suppliers.” To read Know-it’s news release go to https://know-it.co.uk/news/tackling-late-payments-to-small-to-medium-sized-businesses-crucial-to-economic-recovery-gordon-merrylees/.