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The UK’s largest companies pay supplier invoices by the day payment is due on fewer than one in seven occasions, new research reveals.
Businesses employing more than 1,000 people paid suppliers on time just 15% of the time in March 2026, compared to 66% of smaller businesses. Overall, only 61% of UK firms paid suppliers on time, according to the report by Dun & Bradstreet.
The study, based on analysis of 448,000 businesses, said the findings highlight “a widening imbalance across UK supply chains, with many smaller businesses effectively carrying the working capital burden for their largest customers”.
This leads to increased exposure to financial stress for SMEs, reflected in business failure rates. UK insolvencies reached 5,295 in the first quarter of 2026, remaining at the highest sustained period of elevated business failures that has persisted for more than three years.
Regionally, businesses in London were worst for late payment due to paying suppliers on time 54% of the time. Yorkshire was the best region at 66%.
Dun & Bradstreet’s Ravi Sidhu said:
“Late payment has been a persistent challenge for UK businesses for years, and the data suggests the problem runs deeper than many appreciate. Payment performance does not improve as businesses grow. Smaller suppliers are routinely absorbing cashflow pressure on behalf of their largest customers, and over time that strain accumulates.
“What our data makes clear is that businesses cannot afford to trade on trust alone. Having access to timely, accurate data on the payment behaviour and financial health of your counterparties is increasingly essential to making confident, informed credit decisions.”
The government’s Commercial Payments Bill, which will deliver legislation aimed at tackling late payment, is currently being debated in Parliament.
The Bill includes stronger powers for the Small Business Commissioner to investigate, adjudicate
There will also be a 60-day cap on payment terms for large firms, mandatory interest on late payments, and action to ban the practice of retentions in construction.
Other changes are requirements in secondary legislation for large companies to publicly report the amount of interest they have paid and the interest they owe, and a requirement for boards or audit committees of persistently late-paying large companies to publish commentary on why their payment performance is poor and actions they are taking to fix it.
