About us
We ensure fair payment practices for Britain's 5.7 million small businesses, and support them in resolving their payment disputes with larger businesses.
The Small Business Commissioner (SBC) considers complaints from small businesses (that is businesses with fewer than 50 staff) about payment problems they are encountering concerning their larger business customers (with over 50 employees), making non-binding recommendations on how the parties should resolve their disputes.
The SBC is:
- impartial
- free to use on a non-risk basis
- independent, but appointed by government
Our responsibilities
We are responsible for:
- providing general advice and information to small businesses on:
- resolving disputes and dealing with an unpaid invoice
- checking contracts and getting invoices right
- signposting small businesses to existing support and dispute resolution services
- considering and investigating complaints about payment issues between small business and their larger customers making (non-binding) recommendations on how the parties should resolve their disputes
Who we are
The office of the Small Business Commissioner is an independent public body set up by government under the Enterprise Act 2016. We cover the whole of the UK - England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.