Late payment crisis eases

Bills were paid an average of 20.74 days late in January

Channel firms hit by late-paying customers have received a boost as new figures suggested the crisis is easing.

UK firms’ payment performance improved for a fifth time in the last six months to January, according to Experian’s Late Payment Index.

Bills were paid an average of 20.74 days late in January, compared with 23.55 days late a year ago.

Large firms with more than 501 employees remained the tardiest payers, although their average dropped significantly from 40.08 to 36.36 days year on year. The smallest firms with one to two employees continued to pay their late bills the quickest, with an average of 18.10 days, compared with 20.71 last year.

Joe Myers, head of commercial credit at Experian, said: “The improvements in payment performance suggest that firms are becoming less inclined to delay payment as a way of managing for cash.

“This benefits everyone, not least the paying firm itself as it will reflect well in their credit score.”

Businesses in the postal/telecommunications sector were the worst payers in January (32.88 days), followed by property (32.82 days) and utilities (29.19 days).