MP bids to get more firms to take prompt payment pledge

TEN international companies have joined Oldham MP Debbie Abrahams’ campaign to get major employers to pay their bills.

The Oldham East and Saddleworth MP is stepping up the pressure on other companies to back her “Be Fair — Pay on Time” campaign, which encourages large companies to pay smaller suppliers on time.

The Labour MP invited the 75 top 100 FTSE companies who weren’t already signed up to the Institute of Credit Management’s Prompt Payment Code to do so.

Ten firms — BG Energy Holdings, BHP Billiton, Reckitt Benckiser, Royal Dutch Shell, Serco, Standard Life, Vodafone, Land Securities Properties, Severn Trent and Tullow Group Services — have now signed up. Four have refused: GKN, Rio Tinto Group, SABMiller and Sainsburys.

Mrs Abrahams said: “We should give credit where it’s due to the 10 companies. They are prepared to lead by example and demonstrate their commitment with prompt payments.”

“To those companies who said they didn’t feel it necessary to sign up to a voluntary code, they are simply demonstrating their lack of understanding of how unacceptable their behaviour is.”


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