A new business deal has been agreed to give OFTEC members automatic membership of Prompt Payer worth £250.

Jacqueline Crawford, registration services director for OFTEC, said: "In today's tough trading conditions it can be difficult for a business to recover its trade debts while maintaining an otherwise good business relationship. Prompt Payer gives OFTEC-registered technicians free access to specialist advice and assistance from lawyers and insolvency practitioners. This enables them to recover debts quickly and efficiently, in many cases without damaging long-term supplier-buyer relationships."

Over the last year Prompt Payer has collected debts for OFTEC businesses in excess of £1 million. They will collect any amount - the lowest amount has been £40 and the largest success over £100,000. Prompt Payer will handle everything required, right up to court action. The service is completely free to OFTEC-registered businesses and any interest/fees collected under the Late Payment Act are retained by the businesses as well.

OFTEC-registered business Haven Heating, which has already used the debt collection service, said: "It's a relief to have someone on our side. The service from Prompt Payer was second to none, they really do care. Without them I would have been up the creek, they take members' issues seriously."

The second most popular service offered by Prompt Payer is the loan broker schemeThis is free to use and searches for lenders based on the business's needs and creditworthiness. Almost a million pounds of lending has already been placed for OFTEC businesses. With the banks being harder on small businesses, the broker service is able to look at all avenues in the market.

More information on Prompt Payer can be found online at www.promptpayer.co.uk.