Slowest payers ยท
The Boots Company PLC is the slowest-paying PLC at 88 days, latest reports show
Across 246 public limited companies the median time to pay suppliers was 26 days; eight averaged more than 60.
- PLCs reporting: 246
- Median days to pay: 26
- Slowest: 88 days
- Averaging over 60 days: 8
246 public limited companies have a current payment practices report, and their median time to pay suppliers was 26 days, against 31 for all 6,220 large companies reporting. Eight of the public companies averaged more than 60 days.
The Boots Company PLC reported the slowest average, 88 days in the six months to 31 August 2026, with 36% of invoices paid outside agreed terms.
The next slowest were Johnson Matthey PLC at 73 days (the six months to 30 September 2026), Elior UK PLC at 72 days (the twelve months to 30 September 2026), Lonza Biologics PLC at 70 days (the six months to 30 June 2026), Rolls-Royce PLC at 70 days (the six months to 30 June 2026) and Mears Group PLC at 69 days (the six months to 30 June 2026).
A public limited company here is one whose registered name ends PLC or Public Limited Company; many are subsidiaries of listed groups and report for their own UK business.
About these figures
Figures are what each company filed on the government's Check payment practices service, as downloaded on 3 November 2026. Large companies and limited liability partnerships must report every six months under the Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations 2017. Unless stated, each company's latest report is used, counting only periods that ended on or after 4 May 2025, and reports with figures that cannot be right are left out. Companies whose latest figures look inconsistent with their earlier filings, such as an average more than double their previous report, are not named in our stories; they stay in the tables with a note. How we use the data.
Written by Fair Payment's data desk from the filed figures, without a human writing step. Source: Check payment practices, under the Open Government Licence v3.0.