£11 Billion Lost to Late Payments:

Why Business111.com Launching This Autumn Is a Lifeline, Not a Luxury says Liz Barclay, ex HMG’s Small Business Commissioner and now Founder of http://www.businesss111.com

A new report from the Department for Business and Trade and the Office of the Small Business Commissioner confirms what millions of small firms have long known: late payments are strangling UK businesses and dragging down the economy.

The figures are stark:

Late payments cost the UK economy £11 billion a year.

£26 billion is owed to businesses in unpaid invoices at any one time.

14,468 businesses close every year—or 38 a day—due to not being paid on time.

SMEs lose £7 billion annually in direct costs, including chasing debt, hiring collectors, and paying for emergency finance.

This is more than poor practice—it’s systemic economic damage, undermining productivity, jobs, and resilience at the heart of the UK’s business ecosystem.

That’s why I’m proud to announce the upcoming launch of Business111.com—a new, independent digital platform designed to support, inform and connect small business owners, launching Autumn 2025.

What is Business111.com?
Business111.com will be the UK’s first real-time, trusted platform built by and for small businesses. It will provide:

Clear, accessible guidance on late payment rights, processes, and practical action.

A safe, anonymised space for business owners to share experiences and flag bad payment behaviour.

A community hub for peer support and knowledge-sharing—cutting through isolation and confusion.

Updates and explanations on government schemes, legal changes, and financial support, written in plain English.

Tools to help small firms track payment trends, avoid risk, and make informed decisions.

Business111.com will also offer focused support for issues beyond late payments—like access to finance, managing red tape, and navigating the complexities of growth—all in one place.

It will not be a government mouthpiece, and it won’t sell your data. It will be independent, user-driven, and practical, with information that puts the power back in small business hands.

Late payment has been debated for decades. We’ve had laws, initiatives and commissioners. Yet 14,000 businesses still close every year for want of a single invoice being settled on time.

The report published today confirms the scale of the crisis—but also the opportunity. If we can improve payment culture by just 10%, we could return £1 billion to the economy every year.

That starts with honest information, timely support, and a place to turn to that understands how small business really works.

Business111.com will launch in Autumn 2025. In the meantime, we urge policymakers, lenders, corporates and industry bodies to engage with the platform and commit to real accountability on payment practices.

Because if we want a thriving economy, we must stop asking small firms to carry the cost of delay.