However, Scotland saw a modest rise in payment times beyond agreed terms, from 23.38 days in the second quarter of 2009 to 23.65 days for the same period this year, while late payments in the North West averaged 25.16 days to overtake London as the slowest paying region.
Balancing the books is a good thing for every business, and the Government is no different in this regard, but let us hope that the Chancellor has recognised the ripple effect that will ensue from public expenditure cutbacks, and the savings more than offset the costs to the country of business failures and consequent job losses’ impact upon the Benefits budget.
The report estimates £69.5bn is owed to creditors from the 127,000 companies in financial difficulty in the second quarter.
