Just paid a VAT Repayment into a bank that I partly own. The payment was a VAT Payable Order issued by the Government, but I still have to wait four days before I can make payments to suppliers, just in case the Government bounces the cheque!!!! Oh how I wish the world could return to the days of good old Bank Managers who worked on common sense, and were not driven by greed, to hang onto my money for as long as possible for their own profit. Grrrrrr!!!!!!
I presume that's poetic licence and you actually own some shares in them. If you really "partly owned" a bank in practical terms you wouldn't be waiting for a vat cheque to clear to pay suppliers. Why on earth are you still getting vat repayments by cheque anyway? You should arrange to have it paid directly into the bank by transfer like 99% of the rest of the business population and you'd have had the money at least a week earlier.
If you need to wait for a VAT refund before you can afford to pay your suppliers then there is possibly something amiss with your cashflow. What would have happened if the refund hadn't turned up for a couple of weeks or months (which is quite possible)?
You could, if desperate, pay extra to have the cheque cleared quickly.
Not all Banks in the UK had to be bailed out by the Government . Depends on which Bank you are with. Even if you had shares in the Bank I don't think it entitles you to quicker cheque clearance!
Unfortunately for us all, Banks are in it for profit, not fun. When they make it they boast about it, when they don't they get bailed out. They have devised very clever systems that ensure they make the most possible profit from the least possible work ( as we all should )