Small and micro businesses are the lifeblood of the UK economy, but many struggle to get paid. This causes issues with cash flow and hinders growth. It’s also stressful and time-consuming as businesses chase unpaid invoices and sometimes turn to alternative means of funding.

Stewart Turkington is a freelance photographer and videographer based in the South-East of England and has worked with the local council for over 10 years taking videos and photos of events such as festivals, new leisure centres, right the way through to royal visits.

As a small supplier, Stewart is familiar with the issues around late payment,

“I work for many different clients and sometimes I find myself chasing unpaid invoices, which is time consuming and stressful at times.”

Stewart Turkington Photography enrolled onto the FreePay scheme at the local council, benefitting from faster payments, much quicker than the agreed terms.

FreePay enables local authorities to pay their local small and micro suppliers early without charge, accelerating cash to the businesses that need it most.

For Stewart Turkington Photography, FreePay has not only delivered faster payments, but also certainty of payment – providing the confidence that they will receive payments in a timely way and removing the fear and stress of late payment.

As Stewart explains: “I’ve been part of the FreePay scheme now at the local council for just over a year and it’s been fantastic. It’s not only getting get paid quicker, which is great for cash flow, it’s knowing that I will get paid which is just brilliant. I’m really pleased to be part of this scheme.”