The era of large corporations using small suppliers as an informal source of free credit is facing its final curtain. In what is being described as the most significant overhaul of payment legislation in over a generation, the UK government has announced a suite of game- changing measures designed to protect small and medium-sized enterprises( SMEs) from the crippling effects of delayed settlements.

For the UK’ s procurement and finance leaders, the message is clear: payment performance is no longer a back-office administrative metric. It is now a matter of board-level accountability, regulatory compliance and significant financial risk.

84 May 2026