Large UK companies must report how quickly they pay their suppliers. Late payment drains cash from smaller firms and is a common trigger for insolvency. This page tracks how long big companies take to pay, how many invoices are paid late, and which sectors are slowest.
Data sources
DBTDepartment for Business and Trade
Latest at a glance
Latest reporting period
34.5 days
Average time to pay an invoice
Across all reporting businessesDepartment for Business and Trade
22%
Invoices paid later than agreed terms
Not paid within agreed periodDepartment for Business and Trade
60%
Invoices paid within 30 days
Of all invoices reportedDepartment for Business and Trade
6,882
Companies in the latest data
Most recent report each, to May 2026Department for Business and Trade
Chart A · Speed of payment
How long large companies take to pay
Latest
35.5
H1 2023
34.9
H2 2023
34.6
H1 2024
34.3
H2 2024
34.4
H1 2025
34.6
H2 2025
Source: Department for Business and Trade, Payment Practices Reporting. Mean reported days to pay an invoice, by six-monthly reporting period (grouped on period-end date). Broadly flat at about 34–35 days; the current half-year is still being filed and is excluded.
Chart B · When invoices are paid
Where invoices land
Latest
60%
28%
12%
Within 30 days31–60 days61+ days
More than 1 in 5 invoices are paid outside agreed terms — cash that smaller suppliers are owed but cannot yet use.
Source: Department for Business and Trade, Payment Practices Reporting. Share of reported invoices by time taken to pay. Paid outside agreed terms (22%) cuts across these bands. Figures are each company’s most recent report to May 2026.
Payment performance by sector
Slowest first
Sector
Avg days to pay
% paid late
% paid within 30 days
Manufacturing
47.4
29%
37%
Wholesale & Retail Trade
38.5
24%
49%
Construction
34.7
19%
54%
Professional, Scientific & Technical
34.5
22%
64%
Transport & Storage
34.4
20%
56%
Accommodation & Food Service
33.7
18%
56%
Information & Communication
33.6
23%
67%
Administrative & Support Services
29.9
20%
67%
Health & Social Work
29.1
17%
71%
Electricity & Gas
27.6
17%
74%
Education
24.8
19%
79%
Finance & Insurance
24.3
18%
80%
Source: Department for Business and Trade, Payment Practices Reporting. The 12 largest reporting sectors by number of companies, ordered slowest first. Industry is each company’s primary registered SIC code, matched via Companies House. Self-reported; period to May 2026.
Read this first
Payment-practices figures are self-reported by large businesses.
They describe payment behaviour, not insolvency. Slow payment is a pressure on suppliers, not a measure of the reporting company’s own solvency.
22%
of invoices paid lateoutside the agreed payment terms
Cite this data
Reference these figures
CompanyDebt (2026) ‘Payment Practices & Late Payment’.
Chasing unpaid invoices and running out of road?
Late payment is one of the most common reasons solvent businesses run short of cash. Our licensed insolvency practitioners offer confidential, no-obligation guidance on your options.
Payment-practices figures are drawn from the UK government’s statutory Payment Practices Reporting service (Department for Business and Trade), which large UK companies and LLPs must file every six months. The headline figures take each company’s most recent report in the period to May 2026 (6,882 companies, one report each), so no company is counted twice; the sector split matches each company’s primary registered SIC code via Companies House (resolved for 6,634 of them). Figures are self-reported and describe payment behaviour, not insolvency.
