Three months ago I wondered quite how Gordon Brown's "insistence" that the banks should extend credit to small businesses on normal terms would transpire in actuality. The fact that the BPIF and Unite have now resorted to sending a letter to Chancellor Alistair Darling proves that my initial scepticism about Brown's words (and indeed Darling's follow-up assertion three weeks later) was valid.

Of course print's not alone, the banks' squeeze on funds is a crisis that's affecting all types of businesses up and down the country. Perhaps in a weird way that's a good thing, because if it were just print there'd be bugger all chance of anything happening.

In the context of the ongoing general meltdown it was interesting to hear Sainsbury chief Justin King being interviewed this morning about the company's results - a bright spot in a fog of retailer depression. King pointed out that Sainsbury's suppliers can draw down their invoices within a day of payment being authorised, and unsurprisingly the retailer is seeing an increase in cash-strapped suppliers wanting to do just that. If I recall correctly, Communisis has a similar arrangement with its suppliers.

Being paid early, or even on time, must surely have massive appeal to businesses consumed with worry about whether they will be paid at all. I heard a couple of examples recently of printing companies being used as some sort of unofficial cashflow tool by clients to an extent that was simply ridiculous. In one instance the printer hadn't been paid for a year, in another the printer was offering 12 months interest free credit despite factoring their own invoices (how on earth does that work?), and in yet another a multi-part job being printed over several months was only paid for 60 days after the last delivery.

I know it's easier said than done, but surely now is the time to kick such crazy arrangements into touch, and for those credit control departments to really earn their crust.