BUSINESSES in Yorkshire could be losing more than £87 million a year chasing customer late payment, according to new research.

A national survey of business owners and managers by Bibby Financial Services has revealed that firms in the region spend a total of 762,000 days a year chasing customers for payments, equal to an annual cost of £775 per firm.

The report also shows that half (50 per cent) of businesses in the region have been chasing much harder for payment over the last year – a worrying statistic considering the UK economy has returned to growth.

And things are about to get a lot worse for firms in the region if the Coalition Government repeals former Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling’s March 2010 Budget pledge to assist the cash flow of small businesses and increases the Government’s payment terms on invoices from five days to 30 days to save millions of pounds.