IN AMONGST the hurly burly of daily business life, I hope you can take a minute out today for a little daydreaming...

Consider this, just who would be your leading contender to replace Guy Fawkes at the top of the bonfire...?

On second thoughts, I'm finding this is a difficult question to answer; the possibilities are endless!

The Plymouth Branch AGM took place on 26th October and a new committee member, Jackie Lowry, from Focus Training, was duly elected, giving us some most welcome new expertise in the training field.

Issues raising their heads at the AGM included planning matters and the increase in business rates many of us are finding out about.

Another burning issue I am finding talked about whenever there is a gathering of local businesspeople is the matter of late payment.

The FSB nationally has just conducted some research which revealed small firms are waiting for up to four months for invoices to be paid. Around 4,000 business failures were caused by late payments last year and one in three FSB members say they are waiting longer to be paid during the credit crunch.

The FSB has written to a number of large companies to explain how badly late payments affect the cashflow of small firms, as all of the companies contacted have told small firms to wait 60 days for invoices to be paid.

FSB national chairman John Wright said: "Larger organisations must be given a loud and clear message that they must stop using the recession as an excuse to use small firms as a source of credit."

The FSB is campaigning for as many public and private sector organisations as possible to sign up to the government-backed Prompt Payment Code and change the culture of late payments.

Judging by the comments of fellow businesspeople in Plymouth I've heard, there's already a danger that many small businesses in the city are starting to experience the frustrations of dealing with large clients and then waiting ages to get paid.

Unfortunately, it looks as if this issue is going to be added to the Plymouth FSB Branch's list of priorities for this next year...

There's never been a more important time to be an FSB member!

Contact the Devon Regional Office on 01803 322 499 for more information.

The Plymouth FSB Branch now has a website:

www.plymouthsmallbusinesses.org.uk