ICAEW’s Iain Wright hosts a conversation with Emma Jones CBE, the government’s newly appointed Small Business Commissioner, in this special episode of Accountancy Insights.

Jones discusses the Small Business Plan, launched on 30 July, which introduces new measures to tackle late payments. Estimates place the cost of late payments to the UK economy at £11bn per year as well as contributing to the closure of 38 businesses each day. Upcoming legislation will also reduce maximum payment terms from 60 to 45 days .

She also shares learnings from a career spent in small business. Jones founded and exited her first business at the age of 27 and then went on to establish both Enterprise Nation and StartUp Britain to support small and young businesses across the country. She has also previously served as SME Representative for the Crown Commercial Service. 

Links 

• Policy paper: ‘Backing your business: Our plan for small and medium-sized businesses’: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/688b1f6f1affbf4bedb7b11d/our-plan-for-small-and-medium-sized-businesses.pdf 
• Open consultation: ‘Late payments: tackling poor payment practices’: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/late-payments-tackling-poor-payment-practices 
• ICAEW Small and Micro Business Community: https://www.icaew.com/technical/small-and-micro-business-community

Host

Iain Wright, Chief Policy and Communications Officer, ICAEW

Guest

Emma Jones CBE, Small Business Commissioner

Producer

Natalie Chisholm

Episode first published: 12 August 2025

Podcast recorded: 7 August 2025