United Kingdom small business payment times & late payment statistics

Small businesses in United Kingdom waited an average of 29.6 days to be paid in September 2026, with invoices settled 8.3 days late on average. Across the July to September 2026 quarter, the period Xero headlines in its own commentary, the average wait was 29.5 days, with invoices 8.0 days late. Explore payment times, debtor days and late payment trends by industry and region, monthly from January 2017 to September 2026. Data: Xero Small Business Insights, analysed by Paidnice.

Updated with September 2026 data
Time to be paid
29.6days
+0.3 days vs a year ago
Paid late by
8.3days
-0.3 days vs a year ago
Sales growth (y/y)
+3.9%
+7.5% a year ago
Jobs growth (y/y)
+2.3%
+1.0% a year ago
Wages growth (y/y)
+2.7%
+3.0% a year ago

UK small businesses wait longer to be paid than their counterparts in Australia and New Zealand, and invoices routinely settle 8.3 days past their due date. The sector gap is stark: manufacturers wait 2.2 times as long as hospitality businesses to be paid.

How long does it take to get paid in United Kingdom?

Monthly averages, January 2017 to September 2026. Pick a metric, zoom the range, and overlay industries or regions and nations to compare against the national line.

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Time to be paid and late payment days are seasonally adjusted. Sales, jobs, and wages are year-over-year growth. Shaded marker: COVID-19 pandemic onset (March 2020).

Context:

How long do UK small businesses wait to be paid by industry?

Debtor days by sector, September 2026. Click a column heading to sort.

Industry Time to be paid Paid late by Change vs a year ago
Manufacturing 37.6 days 10.0 days -0.2d
Transport, Postal and Warehousing 37.2 days 8.7 days +0.4d
Administrative and Support Services 35.0 days 8.1 days +2.2d
Education and Training 34.3 days 10.5 days +0.2d
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services 33.3 days 9.6 days 0.0d
Information Media and Telecommunications 32.7 days 9.2 days -0.9d
Construction 29.6 days 9.3 days +1.1d
Arts and Recreation Services 29.0 days 11.5 days +2.3d
Other Services 27.1 days 7.5 days +2.4d
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services 26.5 days 12.0 days +2.4d
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing 25.4 days 6.3 days +3.1d
Health Care and Social Assistance 23.7 days 7.1 days +2.1d
Retail Trade 20.9 days 6.2 days +0.7d
Accommodation and Food Services 17.3 days 5.1 days +0.1d
Slowest paid: Manufacturing Manufacturing businesses waited 37.6 days on average in September 2026, 8.0 days longer than the national average.
Fastest paid: Accommodation and Food Services At 17.3 days, Accommodation and Food Services collects 20.3 days faster than Manufacturing.
Most overdue: Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services Invoices in Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services run 12.0 days past their due date on average, the worst of any sector.

Which UK regions and nations wait longest to be paid?

Small businesses in Northern Ireland waited longest to be paid in September 2026, at 33.9 days on average, and those in the South West were paid fastest, at 26.5 days.

How long businesses wait to be paid across United Kingdom's regions and nations, September 2026. Click a column heading to sort.

Region Time to be paid Paid late by Change vs a year ago
Northern Ireland 33.9 days 12.1 days +2.8d
Wales 32.8 days 10.5 days +4.0d
North East 32.3 days 9.4 days +4.5d
East Midlands 31.6 days 8.8 days +1.2d
Yorkshire and the Humber 30.5 days 8.3 days +1.6d
East of England 30.4 days 7.4 days +0.9d
West Midlands 30.4 days 9.1 days +2.3d
North West 30.0 days 9.5 days -0.9d
South East 29.6 days 7.8 days +0.6d
London 29.3 days 8.6 days -1.4d
Scotland 28.9 days 8.3 days +1.7d
South West 26.5 days 6.1 days -0.6d
Slowest: Northern Ireland Businesses in Northern Ireland waited 33.9 days on average to be paid in September 2026.
Fastest: South West South West leads at 26.5 days, 7.4 days ahead of Northern Ireland.

Which large UK companies pay their suppliers slowest?

Average days large businesses take to pay their suppliers, self-reported under UK payment practices reporting (reports filed in the last 12 months). Click a column heading to sort.

See the full table of slow-paying large businesses.

5,982 large businesses reporting The median large company takes 31.0 days on average to pay its suppliers, against the 29.6-day average wait reported by small businesses in the Xero data.
7.6% average over 60 days 7.6% of reporting businesses average more than 60 days to pay a supplier invoice. 48% average 30 days or less.

Slowest 15

Business Avg days to pay % paid late
Admiral Law Limited 569.0 4%
Ernst & Young (Asia-Pacific) Services Limited 547.0 81%
Ibc Vehicles Limited 295.0 51%
Rank Group Gaming Division Limited 251.0 73%
Fresenius Medical Care Renal Services Limited 249.0 44%
Petrofac Engineering Limited 242.0 35%
Viridor Efw (Runcorn) Limited 225.0 0%
Proserv UK Limited 186.0 78%
Amazon Digital UK Limited 144.0 4%
Norse Care (Services) Limited 143.0 79%
Rsa Accident Repairs Limited 142.0 44%
BRS Golf Limited 139.0 98%
Ernst & Young (Emeia) Services Limited 138.0 64%
Lomond Motors (East) Limited 136.0 89%
Columbia Pictures Corporation Limited 132.0 4%

Fastest 15

Business Avg days to pay % paid late
Invesco Asset Management Limited 1.0 0%
White & Case Emea Services Limited 1.0 0%
Epyx Limited 1.0 1%
Modis International Limited 1.0 1%
Pontoon Europe Limited 1.0 1%
Roevin Management Services Limited 1.0 0%
Hilton UK Manage Limited 1.0 0%
Mercury Pharmaceuticals Limited 1.0 2%
Xerox Finance Limited 1.0 0%
Stemcor London Trading Limited 1.0 9%
John Lewis Properties PLC 2.0 22%
Banner Group Limited 2.0 1%
Hogg Robinson (Travel) Limited 2.0 7%
Modis Europe Limited 2.0 3%
Spring Technology Staffing Services Limited 2.0 2%

Source: Check When Large Businesses Pay Their Suppliers, check-payment-practices.service.gov.uk (UK Government). Figures are self-reported by each business for its own reporting period and measure how long these large businesses take to pay their suppliers; the Xero figures elsewhere on this page measure how long small businesses wait to be paid. Retrieved 2026-07-31.

For every large company, sector by sector, see how long large UK companies take to pay and the list of large UK companies that pay late.

Is late payment getting worse in the UK?

Average days from invoice to payment, every month since January 2017, with the record months marked.

2017201820192020202120222023202420252026 28d37d avg 31.1d COVID-19 Slowest: 36.9 days May 2020 Fastest: 28.2 days Mar 2026
Right now
29.6 days
September 2026
Five-year average
30.1 days
now 0.5d faster
Fastest month
28.2 days
March 2026
Slowest month
36.9 days
May 2020
Overdue range
7.3–14.7 days late
now 8.3 days

The cost of money. The Bank of England Bank Rate stood at 3.75% in September 2026. The cost of credit shapes how aggressively customers stretch their payables; use the context panel under the explorer chart above to overlay the full rate history.

Business distress. United Kingdom recorded 1,946 business insolvencies in August 2026, and since 2017 monthly insolvency counts and late payment days have tended to move together (correlation -0.35). Late payments are frequently an early symptom of the cash flow stress that ends in insolvency.

Frequently asked questions: United Kingdom payment times

How long do small businesses in the United Kingdom wait to be paid?
As of September 2026, small businesses in the United Kingdom waited an average of 29.6 days from issuing an invoice to receiving full payment (+0.3 days vs a year ago). This is the actual observed payment time across anonymised Xero invoices, not the stated payment terms.
How late are invoices paid in the United Kingdom?
Invoices in the United Kingdom were paid an average of 8.3 days after their due date in September 2026 (-0.3 days vs a year ago). The historical range runs from 7.3 days (June 2021) to 14.7 days (May 2020).
Which industry waits longest to be paid in the United Kingdom?
Manufacturing has the longest wait, at 37.6 days on average in September 2026. Accommodation and Food Services is the fastest paid, at 17.3 days. Measured by days past the due date, Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services fares worst at 12.0 days late on average.
Which region has the slowest payment times in the United Kingdom?
Northern Ireland is currently the slowest, with businesses waiting 33.9 days on average to be paid. South West is the fastest at 26.5 days, a gap of 7.4 days.
Are payment times in the United Kingdom getting better or worse?
Payment times are getting slower. The average wait of 29.6 days in September 2026 compares with 29.3 days a year earlier and a five-year average of 30.1 days.
Where does this data come from?
All figures come from Xero Small Business Insights (September 2026 release), which aggregates anonymised data from hundreds of thousands of small businesses using Xero. Payment metrics are calculated from invoices marked fully paid in the month, weighted by invoice value, and seasonally adjusted. Paidnice presents the data with independent analysis; the underlying dataset is published by Xero.
What late payment interest can I charge in the UK?
Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, UK businesses can charge statutory interest of 8% per annum plus the Bank of England base rate on overdue commercial invoices, plus a fixed compensation amount per invoice. Paidnice indexes this automatically so the rate stays current.
What is payment practices reporting in the UK?
Large UK companies and LLPs must publish reports on their payment practices and performance twice a year, including their average time to pay invoices and the percentage paid late. The reports are public, so small suppliers can check a large customer’s track record before agreeing terms.

Methodology, definitions & sources

Time to be paid Average days from invoice issue to full payment, calculated from invoices marked fully paid in the month, weighted by invoice value and firm-level sample weights, and seasonally adjusted. Invoices without payment terms are excluded.
Late payments Average days an invoice is paid beyond its due date, seasonally adjusted. An average of 8.3 days late means the typical invoice dollar arrives 8.3 days after the agreed terms.
Sales, jobs & wages growth Year-over-year growth rates from anonymised, aggregated small business accounting data. These show the demand backdrop against which payment behaviour moves.
Large-payer figures Self-reported by each large business under a mandatory government reporting scheme. They measure how long big businesses take to pay suppliers; the payment-time figures above measure how long small businesses wait to be paid.

This page reports how long small businesses wait to be paid, from Xero Small Business Insights. How long large companies take to pay their suppliers is a different measure from government payment filings, and it is on the payment times pages.

Citing this page? You're welcome to use these statistics with attribution: United Kingdom small business payment statistics, analysed by Paidnice. https://www.paidnice.com/accounts-receivable-statistics/united-kingdom

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