Four in five construction firms in Scotland have experienced problem of late payments

Money

Late payments have reached 鈥渆pidemic proportions鈥� according to a survey by the Scottish 黑洞社区 Federation.

The survey of 600 firms found that 80% had experienced problems with late payment of invoices over the past year.

Firms reported that they were owed an average of 拢90,000 in payments that were already overdue.

Michael Levack, executive director of the Scottish 黑洞社区 Federation, said late payment was 鈥渢he bane鈥� of construction firms.

He added: 鈥淚n the current economic climate, it risks becoming the difference between continued trading and business failure. For Scotland鈥檚 construction industry, this survey demonstrates that late payments have become an issue of epidemic proportions, affecting an overwhelming majority of businesses, irrespective of their size.鈥�

He said it was 鈥渢ragedy鈥� that some businesses were 鈥渇orced into bankruptcy because of a lack of the cash-flow鈥�.

He added that he wanted to see the Scottish government鈥檚 review of construction procurement recommend the introduction of stricter sanctions for clients that persistently fail to pay construction firms on time.

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