New research has found that nearly three quarters of small businesses in the UK have been affected by late payments over the last year.
The study by NatWest found that 71 per cent of companies had had to chase invoices and that the total amount still owed to small businesses exceeded £63 billion pounds.
Worst affected were small companies with large clients who were able to use their importance to the firm to delay payment.
However a separate study conducted last month found that it was not all bad news for small companies.
Research for Barclays found that the number of firms who felt their company's survival was threatened by late payments had fallen by more than a third since last year.
