SMALL firms in Liverpool have significantly cut the amount of write-offs in outstanding debts owed to them, a new survey has shown.

Last year Liverpool firms wrote off an average of £440 – around a third of the 2008 North West average of £1,556.

This indicates that concerns over the downturn have peaked, according to the 2009/10 Barclays Business Late Payments survey.

Robert Maclachlan, Barclays regional director for the North West, said: “Writing off debt is a direct hit to the bottom line.

“It’s an effective and pragmatic strategy, but it comes at a cost.

“In addition to lost revenue, there’s the significant investment of time and energy spent chasing these debts.

“Businesses in Liverpool are making a judgment call on whether it’s better for them to keep on chasing debts, or to invest their resources elsewhere.”

Other findings within the latest Barclays survey, undertaken as part of the bank’s “Take one Small Step” campaign, showed that while 22% of Liverpool-based bosses say late payers threaten their day-to-day survival, this was slightly down from 24%, and only 38% are worried about the impact of late payments on their cash flow, compared with 68% a year earlier.

The annual report also reveals that on any given day around £9bn is still owed to UK small and medium-sized businesses.

However, this was a decrease of £1bn, which is an apparent consequence of businesses writing off increasing amounts of debt.