Large firms shouldn’t use the tough economic conditions as an excuse to delay paying the recruitment agencies that supply them, according to John Cridland, director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

Speaking at a press briefing last week, ahead of yesterday’s CBI conference, Cridland said: “We shouldn’t be using the economic tightening as an excuse for squeezing the supply chain.”

When asked by Recruiter what was a reasonable number of days for CBI members to pay staffing companies, Cridland said: “I would leave that to my member companies, each company should set their own terms.”

Cridland said that while always an issue, the failure of CBI members to pay suppliers promptly was less of an issue than in 2009, when the organisation had “lots of comments”.

He continued that in last three month he was only aware of one or two comments from CBI members saying that suppliers had flagged up the issue.

“Large companies are very conscious of their business reputation. If they are seen to be squeezing their supplier, there will be corporate reputation challenges,” added Cridland.