In this edition:

• February with the Commissioner

• New Guidance & Resources

• Elite Business Live

• OSBC March Activity

5 minute read

SME Safari: Small business owners in Leicester meet with civil servants to talk about trading conditions and Government policy.

February with the Commissioner

For those who read my LinkedIn updates or these newsletters, you will know that my overarching mission is to make life easier for small businesses by getting money moving through the economy. And I am pleased to say that this month, the Office of the Small Business Commissioner has continued to deliver. We now have more than 500 organisations on the Fair Payment Code, including more large corporates who are working to speed up payments through their supply chains. The team have continued to secure unpaid monies for small businesses, relieving stress and working quickly to resolve disputes. We have now recovered more than £1.4million in unpaid invoices this financial year.

In other news this month:

• Digital Adoption at No.10: We continue to ensure the voice of small businesses are heard in policy discussions. I attended a roundtable with industry leaders, hosted by Minister McDougall, to discuss ensuring access to AI training for small firms.

• SME Safari: We also conducted our latest SME Safari to Leicester, taking civil servants working on SME policy/programmes/products, to visit real-life founders in their trading settings. Another fantastic line-up of businesses offering valuable insights into what small businesses need from Government. You can read my key takeaways, here.

• Getting Paid in Wales: It was great to partner with the Chambers Wales and ACCA Wales for an event in Cardiff discussing solutions to speed up payments for small businesses in Wales. We were joined by some incredible founders who shared how they are tackling the issue of payments and going for growth this year. We were also joined by the FSB Wales and their new chair, John Hurst, as he talked about why the FSB has committed to resolving the issue of payments.

• Get Money Moving Locally: The Post Office has 11,500 locations across UK so can play an incredible role in helping people to start and grow a business. This month we co-hosted a discussion with CEO Neil Brocklehurst on how to get money moving at a local level and support small firms with knowledge of and access to finance. This is the first step and there will be more to follow.

Next month, I am looking forward to celebrating the hard work of the Fair Payment Code Awardees at a drinks reception and we expect to hear imminently from the Department for Business and Trade the outcomes of the late payments consultation. As ever, I will keep you updated here and via my weekly LinkedIn newsletter.

Emma Jones

Small Business Commissioner

This year, we at the Office of the Small Business Commissioner are working to refresh and publish new guidance for small businesses.

This month, we published a series of tips and resources to support small businesses when late payments impact your mental health and wellbeing. This was part of Time to Talk Day and in response to a recent report from Leapers.

Select the button below to access the article and better understand when it might be time to seek support, what you can do if late payments are affecting your mental health, and where you can go for support.

Elite Business Live

Elite Business Live 2026 is back on 11th & 12th March and the Department for Business and Trade returns as a sponsor. This year’s event is all about delivering practical insight, real-world advice and high-value connections for small business founders and leaders.

On 12th March, Emma will be hosting a panel from the UK Government. She will be joined by colleagues from export, local government and the Intellectual Property Office to talk about how small businesses can best access and leverage government support for growth.

See full details and how you can access the livestream for free, here.

OSBC March Activity

10th March - AI Adoption Workshop. Apologies to those who registered to join us in February for this event. Unfortunately we had to postpone the workshop. If you would like to join the team in Birmingham for a practical workshop and discussion on the capability of AI to improve payments, you can register to attend here.

24th March - Fair Payment Celebration, Central London

25th March - SME Safari, Liverpool