Bacs says Northern SMEs wainting longest to get paid

SMALL and medium-sized firms in the North are waiting 13 days longer than the national average to get paid by their customers.

Figures from Bacs, the organisation behind Direct Debit and Bacs Direct Credit, showed that SMEs in the North, including West Yorkshire, are waiting 52.4 days beyond agreed terms to receive payment against the national average of 39.2 days.

Northern SMEs are owed a total of £6.2bn, which compares favourably to the £9.9bn owed to similar companies in the Midlands and the £8.7bn owed to Southern SMEs.