The Prompt Payment Code (PPC) is a scheme now administered by the Office of the Small Business Commissioner and is designed to help small businesses with the issue of dealing with late payments for goods and services. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face huge challenges in the current economic climate and valuable resources can be spent on chasing late payments and, in extreme cases, subsequent legal action.
For these SMEs, the PPC plays an important role in promoting a culture of fair trade and professional payment practices. The Government and industry have worked together to form a code of practice and to monitor payment behaviours, in order to identify problems and manage good practice.
Compliance with the code enables an organisation to appear on a register of signatories, who receive benefits such as favourable pricing or services to make you more competitive. The PPC is supported by many large organisations in the UK such as HSBC, RBS Banking and the Lloyds Banking Group. Robinsons Facilities Services, one of the most accredited Yorkshire companies, is a signatory of the PPC and commits to pay its suppliers on time, give clear guidance to suppliers with regards to its payment procedures and encourage best practice by encouraging the adoption of the code throughout its supply chain. As an SME ourselves, and acknowledging that many of our services are delivered or supported by SME’s throughout our supply chain, commitment to the PPC initiative is extremely important to us as an organisation.
