UK late payment: the key figures
UK small businesses wait an average of 72 days to be paid against standard 30-day terms, and are owed more than £23 billion in total (FSB). Large companies also have to publish how long they actually take to pay small suppliers twice a year on the government’s Payment Practices Reporting service, so you can check a specific customer’s own record before you rely on them. Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)
| Signal | Figure | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Average wait for payment (vs 30-day standard terms) | 72 days | Longer payment times squeeze supplier cash flow |
| Total late payment debt owed to UK SMEs | £23 billion+ | A high total signals the scale of downstream distress |
| Named company payment record | Check by company on Payment Practices Reporting | Concentrated late payment from one large customer spreads risk through a supply chain |
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Late payment is one of the most common reasons a solvent company runs short of cash. If customers pay you late, you have a legal right to claim interest and compensation on business debts, and chasing early protects your own cash flow.
General information, not advice about your company.
Methodology and source
The UK-wide averages above are from Federation of Small Businesses research. Large UK companies must also report their own payment practices twice a year under a mandatory government scheme, and that service lets you check exactly how a named company pays before you extend it credit, rather than relying on a UK-wide average. Late payment is an upstream cause of the cash flow problems that lead to insolvency, especially in construction and other long-supply-chain sectors.
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