The forestry and timber industries are the most prompt at paying their suppliers according to the business information company Experian.
The company recently conducted its latest “Payment Performance” survey which concluded that late payment legislation, brought in by the government four years ago, has had little affect on large companies.
It says the average payment period of companies in the UK is 58.7 days – almost a day longer than when the legislation was introduced in 1998.
And it says the average payment for large companies has increased from 72 days in 1998 to 78.4 days in November 2002.
However, the timber industry takes just 55.5 days to pay up, while the agriculture, fishery and forestry industries do even better at 49.76 days.
