Government renews pledge on prompt payment for SMEs

He made the call at the Innovation Launch Pad Product Surgery, a special event organised to enable some of Britain's most innovative and pioneering SMEs to pitch their ideas direct to Government buyers. Nine trailblazing SMEs were chosen for the event – the culmination of a process involving over 2,000 civil servants voting on ideas submitted by 350 SMEs. "Prompt payment is crucial to smaller companies," said Mr Maude. "The Government has an excellent record on paying our bills quickly and we expect our suppliers to do the same and pay subcontractors well within the 30 day limit. When work has been done, especially by an SME, it is just inexcusable not to pay up quickly for that service. "We will be keeping a close eye on how the big suppliers choose to pay their subcontractors and we won't shy away from naming and shaming those that we find have failed to pay promptly." The Minister set out measures for monitoring prompt payment, including: •Departments will monitor prime contractors performance as part of their contract management processes. •SMEs will be encouraged to use the 'Mystery Shopper' service to report to Government instances where payment is slipping. The results will be published on this website. •The Crown Representatives team, who coordinate the Government's approach to the management of key suppliers across all departments, will strongly encourage prime contractors to pay more quickly than 30 days.