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Occasionally, when pressed for time, team Smarta buys its lunch from Boots. Busy or not, it won’t anymore.
Why? Well we’re not overly keen on Boots' selection of sarnies anyway, but we’re certainly not impressed by this news story that Boots is putting the, er, boot in on many of its small suppliers.
Changing payment terms from 30 days to 75 days from the end of the invoice month (so effectively up to 105 days) and introducing a 2.5% ‘settlement fee’ for actually paying the bill, stinks of exploitation and ‘I’m all right Jack’ protection of profit margins as times get tough.
Well our lunch money isn’t going to support such bully boy tactics and we suggest yours shouldn't either – although, before you point it out, that’s not really going to help the small suppliers, is it?
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Some good news on the Boots front. MTa International, one of its suppliers and a company with just four members of staff, managed to stand its ground and forced the multinational to backtrack and return to its original payment terms. I spoke to MTa's founder Justine Thompson recently who told me she's going to continue speaking out against the 'unfair' practices of big businesses towards their small suppliers. Good to see a small business owner standing up for themselves and winning.