EC bounces debts plans
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• Plans to force companies by law to pay hauliers more quickly were rejected at the European Commission last week. A bid to issue a directive was overturned although the case will be put in a discussion paper due out in November.
Britain has the worst record in the EC for late payments to small companies, according to research from Dun 81 Bradstreet. But the Government, in line with its EC counterparts, had declined to support the proposals, arguing that enforced deadlines would do as much harm as good.
The decision was greeted with dismay by the Road Haulage Association which has been campaigning for a change: "We are not letting this go. We are concerned about the impact of late payments on cash flow."
Martin White of management consultant Coopers & Lybrand says the current position is particularly difficult for small companies: "A number of large companies have pushed payment periods back considerably because their retail customers have done it to them.
"If you are a small haulier you have little choice — you can decide not to work for them again but few people are prepared to do that at the moment," says White.