Sound the trumpet throughout the land - so said Jeremiah with his backing group Vince Cable MP and David Higgins, chairmen of HS2. "By 2025 retentions are no longer to be held". I cannot, for the life of me, see the wisdom of yelling that headline in this Construction Industry Supply Chain Payment Charter, which proclaims the retention fund will die in 11 years' time. Eleven years to go! Oh, come off it. That's a turn-off. No, no, don't turn off. Just come with me to look more closely and I'll tell you a secret. This Supply Chain Payment Charter sets out 11 Fair Payment Commitments. I will come to them in a moment. Note, first, that a charter is not normally binding, merely a set of ideas to aspire to. Careful. This charter has legal consequences. It sets a standard, a standard of "fairness". And if your payment terms are not inside the standard don't be surnrised if they get booted out.
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