Office of the Small Business Commissioner recovers £10 million in late payments

£10 million in late payments has been paid to small businesses following intervention by the Office of the Small Business Commissioner (OSBC) since it was established in 2017.

UK Government research has shown late payments cost the UK economy £11 billion per year with 4,000 businesses closing each year because of late payments: the equivalent to 38 businesses every day. A consultation has also launched in late 2025 to consider further measures to tackle late payments, which include enhanced powers for the Small Business Commissioner.

The OSBC take enquiries from SMEs experiencing unpaid invoices or unfair payment practices from larger organisations and acts on behalf of the small businesses to address the reasons behind the payment dispute and seek a resolution. Under the Enterprise Act 2016 the OSBC has a statutory duty to review enquiries and investigate formal complaints made by small businesses regarding late and overdue payments, as well as providing advice and support on issues relating to overdue payments and payment practices in the private sector.

Emma Jones (pictured), Small Business Commissioner, said:

“What an incredible milestone. Over £10 million retrieved for small firms, of which almost £1 million in this financial year which is 3 times the amount recovered compared to last year. We can only deliver these numbers if small businesses contact us to raise cases of late payment and we thank every small business owner who has entrusted us to investigate their particular issue.

“Late payment is not only bad for business, it also impacts the mental state of founders as they question how they will pay the bills and keep going. We remain at your service if you are being paid late by a large company and I thank the casework team that has worked so hard to deliver this result.”