Mark Snee, Managing director, Technoprint "This should have been brought in a long time ago and it should be made a legal entitlement to receive interest after 30 days. We have already taken a much tougher approach to credit abusers over the last couple of years, but the credit situation seems bound to get worse in the coming months. Late payment is endemic in the print industry and we have suffered along with everyone else. Whether this will have any real impact is difficult to say. Logically, one can imagine it pushing a lot of under-capitalised smaller businesses to the wall."

Andy Brown, corporate affairs advisor, BPIF "Commercial considerations mean that many small suppliers do not seek to enforce their right to interest, and of course in order to secure business many agree longer credit terms. The key question here is whether legislation should go further by defining payment terms. One of the calls for action on the BPIF’s lobbying priorities document Priorities for Print is for government to legislate to ensure that companies and public bodies cannot enhance their own cashflow by imposing unreasonably drawn out payment terms on suppliers."

Peter Wise, director, Minuteman Press "I am disappointed that the proposed legislation is not stronger. It sets 30 days as the standard term, which can be extended to 60 days to allow for a grace period to review and acknowledge receipt of goods. I would have preferred to hear 30 days full stop. We always get a credit reference for private-sector customers who ask for extended terms. If businesses operating effective credit control processes are experiencing cashflow problems due to clients paying late (or not at all) due to less effective processes - that is clearly very wrong."