Updated with June 2026 data

United Kingdom small business payment times & late payment statistics

Small businesses in United Kingdom waited an average of 29.3 days to be paid in June 2026, with invoices settled 8.3 days late on average. Explore payment times, debtor days and late payment trends by industry and region, monthly from 2017 to today. Data: Xero Small Business Insights, analysed by Paidnice.

Time to be paid

29.3days

-0.3 days vs a year ago

Paid late by

8.3days

-0.9 days vs a year ago

Sales growth (y/y)

+4.8%

+7.1% a year ago

Jobs growth (y/y)

+1.1%

+1.9% a year ago

Wages growth (y/y)

+2.9%

+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 more than a week past their due date. The picture is slowly improving, but the sector gap is stark: manufacturers wait more than twice as long as hospitality businesses to be paid.

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

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

+ Compare…

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:

Average payment times by industry in United Kingdom

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

Industry	Time to be paid	Paid late by	Change vs a year ago
Manufacturing	37.9 days	10.5 days	-8.5d
Transport, Postal and Warehousing	34.5 days	6.6 days	+0.2d
Education and Training	34.5 days	11.3 days	+1.0d
Information Media and Telecommunications	33.9 days	10.8 days	+1.7d
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services	33.5 days	9.6 days	-0.4d
Administrative and Support Services	33.4 days	7.8 days	+0.5d
Arts and Recreation Services	28.8 days	11.5 days	+0.8d
Construction	28.0 days	8.3 days	-0.8d
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services	25.3 days	11.3 days	+0.7d
Other Services	24.7 days	6.8 days	+0.5d
Health Care and Social Assistance	24.5 days	8.5 days	+3.0d
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing	23.5 days	5.0 days	+1.4d
Retail Trade	20.0 days	5.8 days	-1.6d
Accommodation and Food Services	16.7 days	4.6 days	-0.7d

Slowest paid: Manufacturing Manufacturing businesses waited 37.9 days on average in June 2026, 8.6 days longer than the national average.

Fastest paid: Accommodation and Food Services At 16.7 days, Accommodation and Food Services collects 21.2 days faster than Manufacturing.

Most overdue: Arts and Recreation Services Invoices in Arts and Recreation Services run 11.5 days past their due date on average, the worst of any sector.

Average payment times by region in United Kingdom

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

Region	Time to be paid	Paid late by	Change vs a year ago
Wales	32.7 days	10.0 days	+3.2d
Northern Ireland	32.3 days	11.2 days	+1.3d
Yorkshire and the Humber	31.7 days	8.4 days	+1.2d
London	30.4 days	9.2 days	+1.1d
South East	30.3 days	8.8 days	+0.8d
North East	30.1 days	6.5 days	0.0d
East Midlands	29.9 days	7.8 days	-0.8d
East of England	29.8 days	7.5 days	+0.3d
North West	29.3 days	9.1 days	-0.6d
West Midlands	29.0 days	7.3 days	+0.8d
Scotland	27.9 days	7.9 days	-1.5d
South West	26.7 days	6.5 days	-8.1d

Slowest: Wales Businesses in Wales waited 32.7 days on average to be paid in June 2026.

Fastest: South West South West leads at 26.7 days, 6.0 days ahead of Wales.

The UK's slowest paying large businesses

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.

5,982 large businesses reporting The median large company takes 31.0 days on average to pay its suppliers, against the 29.3-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.

United Kingdom payment trends since 2017

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

Right now

29.3 days

June 2026

Five-year average

30.1 days

now 0.8d faster

Fastest month

27.9 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 June 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 1,845 business insolvencies in June 2026, and since 2017 monthly insolvency counts and late payment days have tended to move together (correlation -0.34). 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 United Kingdom wait to be paid?

As of June 2026, small businesses in United Kingdom waited an average of 29.3 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 United Kingdom?

Invoices in United Kingdom were paid an average of 8.3 days after their due date in June 2026 (-0.9 days vs a year ago). The historical range runs from 7.3 days (March 2026) to 14.7 days (May 2020).

Which industry waits longest to be paid in United Kingdom?

Manufacturing has the longest wait, at 37.9 days on average in June 2026. Accommodation and Food Services is the fastest paid, at 16.7 days. Measured by days past the due date, Arts and Recreation Services fares worst at 11.5 days late on average.

Which region has the slowest payment times in United Kingdom?

Wales is currently the slowest, with businesses waiting 32.7 days on average to be paid. South West is the fastest at 26.7 days, a gap of 6.0 days.

Are payment times in United Kingdom getting better or worse?

Payment times are improving. The average wait of 29.3 days in June 2026 compares with 29.6 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 (June 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.

Payment dataXero Small Business Insights, June 2026 detailed results for United Kingdom. Paidnice's analysis (rankings, comparisons, and commentary) is independent of Xero.
Interest ratesBank of England Bank Rate: Bank of England IADB series IUDBEDR. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
InsolvenciesCompany insolvencies, England & Wales (seasonally adjusted): The Insolvency Service, monthly company insolvency statistics (GOV.UK). Retrieved 2026-07-31.
Large payersCheck When Large Businesses Pay Their Suppliers, check-payment-practices.service.gov.uk (UK Government). Retrieved 2026-07-31.

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

Close the gap between invoice and payment

The averages above are what happens without a process. Paidnice enforces your payment terms automatically, so your invoices get paid faster than your region's average.

Late fees, interest, and prompt payment discounts, applied by your rules
Reminders, statements, and escalations that send themselves
Works with Xero and QuickBooks. Live in 15 minutes.

Start free with Paidnice