Late-payment fines system ‘prohibitive’ – Barclay Small Business Commissioner Liz Barclay has suggested she would not support proposals to fine companies guilty of slow and late payment of suppliers, saying such penalties would be too expensive to manage and may do little to tackle the issue. She said: “Having thought about it over the last 18 months, what would be required in terms of resources to enforce [fines] would be prohibitive,” adding: “Where there are powers to fine, they haven’t necessarily made the degree of changes that would have been anticipated.” Citing penalties for employers not paying the minimum wage as an example, Ms Barclay said: “We still see a long list of companies fined every year.” Many motorsport businesses would support a system of late payment fines.