On an industrial estate in Erdington, north Birmingham, a stream of vans – roofers, removal services, delivery drivers – pull into Katie Smith’s family garage for maintenance or repairs.
But a glance at the company accounts reveals a problem – many of these customers, mainly self-employed tradespeople or small businesses, are not paying their invoices on time, and Smith’s family is waiting on more than £80,000 worth of bills to be settled.
