On Sun, 06 Jun 2010 12:26:17 +0100, Tim Watts wrote:

Very admirable. Think how much better Britain would be if all businesses
stuck to the "not owe and not be owed" principles...


No company or individual would ever do contract work for public sector
clients if businesses followed those principles. The clients might
have contract terms that promise payment within 30 days, but that's
only there to ensure that they get their 2.5% for early settlement.

The trouble is, they take the 2.5% discount and then don't pay for at
least three months, and sometimes as much as six months. And the bar
stewards still take their 2.5%!

This has been going on for as long as I can remember - since the early
1970s - and probably for far longer.