Two thirds of firms are late bill payers
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• by Ian Wylie
More than half the companies in the road transport sector are failing to pay their bills on time, according to the first ever -name and shame" payment league tables.
Compiled for the Federation of Small Businesses by credit data company Dun & Bradstreet. the survey of 2,500 public limited companies in the UK found that only a third pay up within the 30-day business credit period. One in five take up to 60 days to pay their bills, while four admitted to taking more than 200 days.
All public limited companies are now required by law to state in their annual reports the average length of time it takes them to pay their bills.
Companies listed under the trans portation section show a better-than-average payment record—the sector reveals average payments in 39 days with 40 of the 94 surveyed claiming to pay within 30 days.
Yet some of the biggest companies involved in haulage work are also offenders. DTS Logistics only pays its bills after 48 days, while British Steel takes an average of 65 days to pay its debts.
A quarter of the 40,000 annual business failures in Britain are blamed on payment delays. But under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, which became law in December, hauliers can now charge cus, tomers interest at 8% over base rate.