Flintshire County Council has announced that it has supported small and micro businesses locally thanks to the ability to speed up payments to those that need the money the most.
The programme, called FreePay, has helped to accelerate the paying of crucial funding to local businesses, supporting them with their cash flow and boosting growth in the local economy. Businesses that are eligible are automatically enrolled into the FreePay programme, helping the council to pay suppliers early, without charge.
Since the launch of the scheme, more than 10,000 invoices have been paid early by the council, with more than 330 suppliers now registered to the programme. According to the council, payments are being made in less than half of the time that is contracted, with this averaging seven days over the last three months.
Flintshire’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Paul Johnson, said:
“We are proud to be able to offer early payment to our small and micro suppliers through this scheme. As the cost of living crisis puts more pressure on small businesses and their employees, FreePay will continue to accelerate cash to the businesses that need it most.”
The council estimates that 20% of small businesses have encountered cash flow issues thanks to late payments, however getting paid as early as possible can stop this from happening. Businesses, large and small, are able to benefit from this and how it impacts the growth and development of business.
Businesses that are larger are eligible to join the FasTrack programme being run by the council. This scheme applies a small, pre-agreed rebate that is based around how quickly the payment is accelerated. This will give the council more funding that can be reinvested into the delivery of crucial local services.
Speaking about the FastTrack programme, Councillor Johnson added:
“The FastTrack programme offers significant benefits to our suppliers with firms receiving payments efficiently and in much shorter timescales than the agreed terms. We encourage suppliers to sign up so that they too can get access to earlier payment and the advantages this brings.”
