Since December, hundreds of organisations have expressed interest in the Small Business Commissioner's new Fair Payment Code initiative. There’s still time to apply and be part of that initial group of Awardees. You can apply to be part of that group here How to apply - Expression of Interest - Small Business Commissioner.
As a reminder, The Fair Payment Code (FPC) rewards businesses that adopt fair payment practices with their suppliers. The Code is ambitious in setting high standards including an exemplar ‘Gold’ category for those businesses paying suppliers within 30 days. The Code is also aspirational and aims to support businesses to improve payment practices and encourages their transition to Gold over time.
As well as having three Award categories: Gold, Silver and Bronze, the new Code includes a set of fair payment principles that every applicant business is required to sign up to. To ensure the Code is credible, there is a rigorous but relatively light touch application process, a two-year limit on Awards and a more robust approach to enforcement.
The Fair Payment Code is administered by the Office of the Small Business Commissioner (OSBC) on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT).
There is also a handy FAQ document on the Code here Fair Payment Code FAQs.pdf - Google Drive