Small businesses are paying up to three times more for goods and services than larger organisations.
The research from group buying website Huddlebuy.co.uk has found that businesses with fewer than 10 staff – who employ more than 4.5 million people in the UK – are overpaying by more than £3.6 billion for goods and services.
UK start-ups face additional bills of £1,200 per year for each employee, compared to more established big businesses.
Commenting, CEO at Huddlebuy.co.uk, Saurav Chopra said: “The results of this research are simply shocking. Small businesses fighting desperately to survive in harsh economic times are being ripped off by greedy suppliers, whilst big businesses enjoy huge savings from their favoured suppliers.”
According to a spokesman at the Federation of Small Businesses, the ongoing issue of overcharging is ‘highly relevant to general small business operations’.
The overcharging is on such a scale that it threatens to derail the UK Government’s Start Up Britain initiatives, Huddlebuy claims.
