The average debt owed each month to small businesses by their customers has jumped by almost 20 per cent in the last year to £2,440, according to research by Barclays. The total amount outstanding is £10.3bn – a £1.7bn increase on last year.

About 60 per cent of the companies covered by Barclays’ research said they had problems with late payments and a third of those said the problem threatened their day-to-day survival.