"The main purpose of Fairline's supplier conference is to promote efficient, highvalue supplier relationships with a number of critical suppliers that are fully aligned with Fairline's values and business objectives, " said Taylor. "When suppliers know what we want to achieve it makes their job easier and ensures we benefit from capable suppliers operating within the right relationships."

"The supplier conference provides a formal setting for us to present and discuss our business and supply chain direction and to focus on pertinent supply issues, Taylor added. The conference also helps to streamline the voice of Fairline to the entire supplier community, whilst soliciting feedback from key suppliers on various areas of importance and possible areas of opportunity."

One of those areas of importance may well have been the letter sent by Fairline to its suppliers telling them it intended to move to payment terms of 90 days. On an annual purchasing spend of £40m+, this would see Fairline holding over £7m of its suppliers' funds in its bank.

But John Rudge, Fairline's, purchasing manager, was quick to deny the company was using suppliers' money to fund product development, even though it plans to bring five new models to the market place over the next two years.

"There's the whole infrastructure of the business that we're moving forward and the argument is if we're successful in doing that, then everybody benefits, " he told BB .Rudge went on to say he had received very good response and very reasoned response to his letter and said people have been very understanding about what we're trying to achieve.

"We 're not trying to impose anything, " he insisted. "We want to be successful. And the more successful we are, the more successful our suppliers are."

In fact, he concluded, the vast majority of them we prefer to call partners rather than suppliers.