Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the impact of Amazon UK’s Delivery Date Based Reserve policy change in August 2023 on small businesses.

I recently wrote to Amazon’s UK Country Manager, John Boumphrey, asking how Amazon intends to help mitigate the impact on its sellers, recognising that this is a challenging time for many small businesses already struggling with cashflow issues.

We are determined to see late payments reduce to ensure that small and medium sized enterprises are given the best chance of succeeding and growing. One of our levers to tackle late payment is the Small Business Commissioner, who provides general advice and information to small businesses in connection with their supply relationships with larger businesses. Small businesses affected by late or unfair payment practices can use their complaint investigation service.