Debt Recovery for a Small Business
When a small recruitment agency struggled to recover an overdue invoice of £3,888.00, they turned to us for professional support. Despite having successfully placed a candidate, who continued to work for the debtor, the client faced months of delays, broken promises, and complete communication silence. For a small business, this was a substantial financial setback.
The Impact of Non-Payment on Small Businesses
The debtor repeatedly promised payment but failed to act. Early on, they ignored all of our attempts at contact, which made recovery difficult and caused understandable stress for our client. Although the debtor claimed cashflow problems, it became clear they were continuing to pay other suppliers, just not our client.
For a business of this size, the uncertainty around a sizeable overdue invoice was particularly worrying, especially as they had never needed to use a debt recovery service before.
Our Strategy
To break the deadlock, we applied a strategic approach:
- Persistent and structured communication: Escalating our contact methods until we secured engagement from the debtor.
- Assessment of payment behaviour: Establishing that the debtor was selectively prioritising other suppliers.
- Clear education on consequences: Outlining the litigation and insolvency options available to our client should non-payment continue.
- Motivating swift settlement: Highlighting the increased cost and risk to the debtor if the matter went to court.
Within seven days of this conversation, the debtor made full payment.
In under six weeks,we collected the full debt value including all the fees and interest applied in line with the late payment act. This meant the debtor covered the entire cost of collection, and the client received the full amount owed.
Their feedback speaks for itself:
“I really can’t thank you enough. As a small business, this is a huge sum of money to us and we’re really appreciative of your hard work. I won’t hesitate to recommend you in future.”
While not unusual, this case highlights something essential:
We champion businesses of every size. Whether it’s a small company or an international organisation, we’re committed to assertive, effective debt recovery.We made it clear that the debt would continue to grow until payment was made, creating urgency to settle.