Eligible, small, local suppliers are automatically enrolled in FreePay to receive faster payment, whilst the opportunity of signing up to the FastTrack scheme gives businesses the option of, as soon as an invoice is authorised, receiving payment ahead of the normal 30-day term. This helps their cash flow and can reduce reliance on loans or overdraft facilities.

Ben Jackson, Chief Executive of Oxygen Finance, commented: “With Flintshire, we have introduced FreePay, which ensures eligible businesses get paid early. We are delighted we can use this service which provides further benefits for smaller suppliers and is the right way to support local business.”

Larger businesses are eligible to join a similar service called Fast Track. The service, which is also provided by Oxygen Finance applies a small, pre-agreed, rebate based on how quickly the payment was accelerated.

Over 350 suppliers have already benefitted from the programme and in April and May invoices totalling £2.3 million were processed.

Getting paid as early as possible provides significant benefits for both large and small companies and can make a substantial impact on the growth and development of businesses. It has been estimated that late payment leads to 50,000 firms a year failing across the UK. The scheme will support the local economy and keep people in work, which is vital as they look to come out of lockdown.

Flintshire’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Social Value and Procurement, Councillor Paul Johnson praised the service, saying: “FastTrack provides significant benefits to our suppliers with hundreds of firms receiving payments quickly and efficiently. This shows how well the process works. We are seeing more firms signing up all the time as they realise that getting paid fast can be a lifeline, especially if they can access the FreePay option.”