"He was a smart and hardworking guy, " says his ex-boss, Richard Campbell-Breedon, a Goldman partner.

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What Breedon wants to see is an expansion of invoice and bill discounting.

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But whether sterling continues to behave like this, says Mr Breedon, depends on market expectations about Britain's intentions towards the euro.

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That's because there are only five Stilton producers, and their products are easy to track, says Janice Breedon, the dairy's marketing manager.

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Were the economic cycle still dominating sterling's value in the currency markets, thinks Mr Breedon, it would have fallen further by now.

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So for Breedon the aim is to get the money from a big company buying goods and services to the smaller companies supplying those goods and services.

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Breedon wants to make it easier for smaller businesses to raise money from investors rather than banks, and also to encourage cash-rich big companies to mitigate the borrowing needs of their smaller suppliers.

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Sharif's wife Tahira Tabassum, 28, of Northumberland Street, brother Zahid Sharif, 37, of Upper Dale Road, and sister Parveen Sharif, 36, of Breedon Hill Road, deny that they knew of his intentions but did nothing to stop him.

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Breedon however has noticed that when payment terms are accelerated at the top of the chain - when for example the government pays promptly - there is a benefit to the supplier dealing directly with the end buyer, but not necessarily to those smaller companies sitting below the main supplier.

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