Construction’s quickest payers revealed – latest rankings

Amey, Morrison Utility Services, ISG, and Costain rank as construction’s fastest-paying main contractors settling subcontractor and supplier invoices in less than 20 days.

Latest returns from submissions to the Government’s Duty to Report on Payment Practices and Performance indicate a slight improvement on past years.

The controversial self-reporting data, which is collated and published by trade body Build UK every six months, has been challenged by subcontractors who complain it is open to gaming because it is based on the number of invoices paid rather than value.

This means that if many small sums are paid promptly, large payments could still be delayed without seriously impacting payment records.

One told the Enquirer: “We know one main contractor is pushing through payments under £15,000 but is paying more slowly on larger sums.”

Main contractor payment performance – source Build UK
	Average payment days	% not paid to terms	% paid within 60 days
Amey	10	13	99
Morrison Utility Services	16	13	95
ISG	17	21	98
Costain	18	9	99
Lendlease	21	0	100
Canary Wharf Contractors	23	1	99
Ferrovial	23	22	96
Murphy	23	12	94
Bouygues	24	19	97
Galliford Try	25	15	97
Morgan Sindall	25	3	98
Mace	26	12	95
Novus Property Solutions	27	18	95
VolkerWessels	27	23	97
Sir Robert McAlpine	27	5	96
Willmott Dixon	28	12	99
Colas	28	28	94
BAM Nuttall	28	12	96
Laing O’Rourke	28	16	94
FM Conway	28	11	97
Wates	29	18	98
John Sisk & Son	29	15	98
Multiplex	30	16	93
Vinci	30	18	93
McLaren Construction	30	28	95
Osborne	30	40	93
Bowmer and Kirkland	30	28	95
Henry Boot	31	15	96
Wilson James	31	15	96
Kier	32	24	91
BAM Construct	32	23	95
Tilbury Douglas	32	23	96
McAleer & Rushe	33	4	95
Balfour Beatty	34	13	97
McLaughlin and Harvey	34	24	95
Skanska	34	13	92
Robertson Construction	34	34	97
Seddon	36	3	98
Graham Construction	37	6	95
Eurovia	42	16	86
EQUANS	48	1	77
Watkin Jones	49	9	86
Northstone	51	53	78

The top 43 main contractors are taking on average nearly 30 days to pay, a day faster than a year ago.

Also the average percentage of invoices not paid within terms improved from 19% to 16.5% compared to six months ago.

Specialist contractors
	Average payment days	% not paid to terms	% paid within 60 days
Concrete
J. Reddington	23	6	89
Expanded Structures	25	12	90
FP McCann	27	10	98
Carey Group	29	21	87
Getjar	37	8	90
Morrisroe	38	7	91
CJ O’Shea	43	3	93
Byrne Brothers	49	1	89
Tamdown	61	28	64
Piling
Cementation Skanska	32	10	98
Bachy Soletanche	35	23	93
Keller	36	22	95
Roger Bullivant	47	4	86
Van Elle	60	11	56
M&E
Crown House Technologies	26	17	82
SES	33	36	95
Skanska Rashleigh Weatherfoil	36	17	90
NG Bailey	37	9	98
Dalkia Engineering	41	38	74
Dodd Group	49	8	46
TClarke	52	10	52
Dalkia Operations	52	24	63
Gratte Brothers	55	7	60
Briggs & Forrester	60	24	47
Fit-out
Stanmore	12	0	99
Overbury	20	4	98
ISG Fit Out	24	53	96
Portview	26	6	96
Willmott Dixon Interiors	30	12	98
BW Interiors	37	12	97

The Government is giving future contractor payment reporting laws extra teeth after coming under fire for not going far enough on corporate payment transparency.

Under the new rules due to come into force in 2025, there will also be a new value metric, so businesses can see the value of invoices, including invoices paid late, and a disputed invoices metric.

Contractors will also have to report retention records in their six monthly returns.

Construction’s quickest payers revealed – latest rankings | Construction Enquirer News