Government appoints new Small Business Commissioner

Ms Barclay will occupy the post, which was created in 2016 to help small businesses secure the payments owed to them and to galvanise UK businesses behind a new culture of prompt payment. She will be leading a national effort to tackle delayed invoices to small businesses.

Previous roles Ms Barclay has occupied include as Financial Inclusion Commissioner, chair of the BSI Consumer Forum and the Fair by Design campaign, as well as a non-executive director of two organisations and a member of the Standards Boards of the Fundraising Regulator and The Equity Release Council.

In addition, she is also an ambassador for the Money Advice Trust and Business Debtline.

“Having run small businesses for most of my professional life I know just how toxic delayed invoices can be, causing needless uncertainty as business owners chase payments which should have been made weeks or even months ago,” said Small Business Minister Paul Scully.

“I thank Phillip King for his work tackling this issue as interim Small Business Commissioner and I welcome Liz Barclay to this hugely important role, driving the positive change we need to see and standing up for our hard-working small businesses.”

Commenting on her appointment, Ms Barclay said she hopes to be able to deliver a payment regime that keeps cash flowing and works for everyone.

“We need a real culture change around business payments in the UK to take pressure off our phenomenal entrepreneurs,” she said.

“People who have already delivered goods and services have to be able to turn their attention to their next client and next order rather than chasing up late payments and worrying about their cash flow. I know from personal experience how damaging that can be to mental and emotional health.”