It is all too common for small companies to go out of business while they are waiting for payment for the goods or services they have provided. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) estimates that 5,000 of the 40,000 small businesses that went to the wall in 1996 suffered their demise for this reason. The newly-elected Labour government has promised legislation to allow businesses to charge interest on those companies that are tardy with their settlements. But by no means all small businesses expect to take advantage of the rights that they will soon have in law.
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