Celebrating success matters for small teams. We’ve had plenty to celebrate at Distinctive recently, as we take on new clients, win recognition and build a team spanning from Cornwall to Gloucestershire.
We’re part of a wider success story of a growing independent agency sector employing more than 230,000 people and contributing billions to the UK economy. It’s a diverse, resilient, vibrant industry that doesn’t ask for handouts, and innovates in the face of huge challenges.
There’s plenty to be confident about in 2026. But it’s not plain sailing. And I want to write here about the worst part of agency life that impacts almost every business I know, including ours.
Step forward, late payments. A silent drain on time, energy and momentum. It’s a tricky topic to cover, and I’ve reflected on posting about this for months.
But spending Saturday morning at month end drafting emails to chase for payment pushed me to write something on LinkedIn. This post expands on those thoughts.
Impact of late payments
As I write this piece, Distinctive Communications needs to earn around £29,000 a month to keep the doors open.
Towards the end of last year, our aged debt came to more than two thirds of that amount. This won’t kill us, as we run a tight ship and have good cash control. But it harms us in ways that people don’t see.
It hits our reserves, which we dip into to pay our bills, salaries and rent. This stunts investment and growth. Chasing late invoices wastes hours that could be spent on more valuable work. We look backwards, when we should stride forward.
Personally, it drains energy and darkens my mood and turns me into someone I dislike. It’s striking how late payments dominate your thoughts as a business owner – first thing in the morning and last thing at night. The feeling can follow you around like a cloud. I’m working on ways to cope with this better, alongside tightening up processes.
A drag on the UK economy
We’re not alone in facing this problem, and many businesses have it worse than we do.
Government research found last year that every year late payments cost the UK around £11bn, wasting more than 133m hours and hastening around 14,000 business closures.
It paints a shameful picture of late payers riding on their suppliers’ backs. This can have devastating consequences for those at the sharp end. I know that late payments have forced some highly respected comms businesses to close. Directors delay paying themselves to keep cash in their businesses.
The government has made encouraging statements about tackling this and launched a fresh code of conduct last year. It has some useful resources here.
But I think sentiment needs matching with firm action against consistent late payers, including follow through on proposals to ban them from bidding for government contracts. And the public sector needs to lead by example. I hear of nightmares with local councils withholding payments even when contracts and POs are in place.
It’s sickening to hear about this behaviour from the organisations who post about social value and supporting local communities on social media while suppliers who employ people living in those areas struggle.
Where this leaves Distinctive
Thankfully, most clients always pay us on time or early and we can absorb some late payment pressure. But our firm view is that it shouldn’t be like this. And we need to stop late payments becoming unmanageable.
We onboard new clients, with clear budgets and scopes, supported by fantastic account leads who work in genuine partnership with them.
We invoice in advance on major projects and some clients pay us by Direct Debit, which is easy to set up. The team chases late invoices on day one and we reserve the right to charge interest on unpaid debt.
And we’re not afraid to act if we must. This was a difficult lesson learned very soon after setting Distinctive up.
When I’m musing over chasing a late payment, I find these lines help as a gentle check against any tempation to stall.
- I’m not being unreasonable.
- I’m asking to be paid for work done.
- I’m here to protect my business, and my team.
Running an agency is brilliant. Dealing with late payment sucks on many levels, even when business is in good shape.
All parties have a role to play in making this work. In the end, it comes down to choices.
If you’re a client who signs POs quickly and pays on time: we salute you and will go above and beyond for you.
If you’re tempted to park an invoice until next month: please don’t. It hurts suppliers and could harm your reputation.
Either choice leaves its mark. What impact does your organisation want to make? The answer determines whether you’re the right fit for us.