The lobbying group calls for all of the UK’s top 100 FTSE companies to sign the Prompt Payment Code (PPC), part of the wider ‘Be Fair – Pay on Time’ campaign.

The initiative asks all firms to pay their suppliers as quickly as possible under the agreed terms and conditions set out at the start of the contract, and without retrospectively changing payment times.

The challenge to the world of big business was launched at an event in Oldham attended by Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna in a bid to highlight the crippling effect late payment of invoices is having on small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) across the country.

A letter countersigned by a number of leading business organisations was sent to the UK’s top 100 FTSE companies not already signed up to the PPC, inviting them to show their commitment to pay their accounts on time and help SMEs stay afloat as the country recovers from the recession.

Currently, just a quarter of the FTSE 100 companies have signed up to the voluntary payment code.

Forum CEO Phil Orford says, ‘The Prompt Payment Code is something all large firms could and should subscribe to. It asks nothing more from responsible businesses than to pay suppliers as and when agreed, without changing terms and conditions retrospectively.

‘FTSE 100 businesses are the true bastions of the UK’s private sector and, by subscribing to the Code, they will be leading the way as they rightly should for others to follow. This is their chance to lead by example on what’s an extremely important issue for small businesses.’