Large companies will be required to publish details on how quickly they pay their suppliers, under draft regulations.

The proposals were published by Small Business Minister Margot James.

Carl D’Ammassa, group managing director of business finance at Aldermore Bank, said: “Our SME clients often tell us how late payments are significantly hindering their growth, which clearly has a knock-on impact on the growth of the wider UK economy.

“Late settlement of invoices is particularly detrimental to smaller companies who tend not to have as much liquidity as larger businesses. This therefore limits the number of customers they are able to serve and, by extension, the revenue they can bring in.

“The new measures announced by the government will hopefully deter larger businesses from delaying supplier payments and also enable small businesses to decide whether they want to provide their products and services to late payers.”