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Wednesday 5th January 2000 12:14pm Y2K excuses used for non-payment to SMEs The millennium bug has been blamed for the increased number of business failures in 1999 in the UK.

Research by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) shows that an increasing number of companies were using the bug as a pretext for not paying bills on time, often causing critical cash flow problems for small businesses.

Philip Mellor, senior analyst at D&B said using the excuse that the cheque is lost in the computer was as commonplace as claiming it was lost in the post.

Mellor stated: "The biggest cause of why companies go under is late payment, resulting in cash flow problems. Our survey showed that 43 per cent of the respondents intentionally failed to pay on time and many used Y2K as an excuse. When a SME is on a tight margin the additional few days late on top of the normal window for payment is too much."

D&B's survey claimed 830 companies a week went bust in 1999 - the highest for five years. Suzanna Kerridge

P.S. I imagine those excuses should be picking up steam for 1Q 2000.

-- Guy Daley (guydaley@bwn.net), January 05, 2000