Jan:Feb 2017 Credit Management magazine

tland
+1.6 East Midlands
Wales
th d West
17.5 DBT
+5.5 East Anglia
shire & Humberside
+2.0 Wales
t Midlands
+2.7 South West South West
Midlands
16.9 DBT
+4.6 South East
Anglia
+3.4 London
es
+2.9 Northern Ireland
th West
Bottom Five Poorer Payers
Bottom Five Getting Poorer Worse Payers
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Education 13.7 +4.9
Construction 14.0 +1.2
Hospitality 15.6 +3.1
ing Better
Public Administration 15.9 +0.1
Water & Waste 15.9 +6.6
tland
rth West seven days worse than October 2016 and
four worse than December 2015. After a
kshire & Humberside
strong and improving performance in the late
st Midlands
Summer and Autumn it is disappointing to see
the good work undone so swiftly, and it will
t Midlandsbe interesting to see if this is turned around in
Q1 2017.
t Anglia
Away from Retail we’ve seen a steady state
les
th West
th East
don
of affairs in Construction that has surprisingly
found itself in our Top Five largely due to
poor performances elsewhere. Despite a few
ups and downs the sector has ended the
year roughly where it has been throughout
2016. While in absolute terms an average in
rthern Ireland the region of 14 DBT may be no cause for
celebration it is certainly much better than the
scores of well over 20 that this traditionally
poorly paying industry was recording on a
regular basis 18 months ago.
Sector
Getting Better
Getting Worse
Business
from Home
+9.7
West
Midlands
17.3 DBT
th etting East Better
16
Region Dec 16 Change on Nov 16
don London Business 18.1 Professional
etting Worse
+3.4
from Home
& Scientific
thern Ireland Northern Ireland 17.8 +2.9
Wales +9.7 17.5 +8.2 +2.0
West Midlands 17.3 +2.6
South East 17.3 +4.6
sional
ntific
.2
Bottom Five Five Poorer Poorer Payers +9.7 Payers
IT & Comms
+7.3
v 16 Sector Dec 16 Change on Nov 16
Professional and Scientific 22.1 +8.2
Business from Home 22.0 +9.7
International Bodies 21.9 +2.9
Business Admin & Support 19.3 +4.0
Health & Social 19.0 +2.1
Top Five Prompter Payers Payers
Sector Dec 16 Change on Nov 16
Sector
Professional
& Scientific
+8.2
15.6 DBT
London
18.1 DBT
East Anglia
16.4 DBT
South East
17.3 DBT
IT & Comms
+7.3
Real Estate
+6.6
Water & Waste
+6.6
Real Estate
+6.6
Northern
Ireland
17.8 DBT
Bottom Five Poorer Payers
Wales
17.5 DBT
Water & Waste
+6.6
North West
17.2 DBT
Yorkshire &
Humberside
14.1 DBT
IT & Comms
Real Estate
Water & Waste
Top
Sector +7.3 Five Five Prompter Prompter +6.6 Payers Payers+6.6
them
Bottom
back up
Five
to their
Poorer
scores
Payers
of earlier in the
Getting Better
Summer), we must never forget how important
Region Dec 16 Change on Nov 16
Region Dec 16 Change on Nov 16
the Service sectors are to the economy as a
Service sectors are to
Yorkshire & Humberside 14.1 +2.6 Getting Worse London Business 18.1 Professional+3.4
IT & Comms
Real Estate
Water & Waste
whole and it is disappointing
from Home
to see
& Scientific
Business the economy as a whole
East Midlands 15.6 +1.6
Northern Ireland 17.8 +2.9
Admin and Support +7.3 +6.6 +6.6
Scotland 16.1 +0.5
Wales +9.7
along with Business
17.5 +8.2 +2.0
Getting Better
From Home and IT and Comms back up
East Anglia 16.4 +5.5
West Midlands 17.3 +2.6
on our ‘Walls of Shame’ when it comes to
South West 16.9 +2.7
South East 17.3 +4.6
Business
IT & Comms
Real Estate
Water & Waste
Getting Worse
either poor payment overall or for worsening
from Home
Professional
& Scientific
+8.2
Although we always try to look in a bit
more detail at the traditional heavyweights of
Construction, Manufacturing and Transport
(which have seen increases that have taken
performance. +7.3 +6.6 +6.6
On a slightly more encouraging note the
Public Sector appears to be doing its best
to maintain its good standing with both
Education and Public Administration keeping
their places in our Top Five from last time
around, although perhaps we should add a
note of caution as Health and Social has made
a rare appearance in the Bottom Five as well.
While many of the businesses in this sector
are not public, they are of course largely
dependent on public money and contracts
and delays in payment can easily work their
way back up along the payment chain.
West
Midlands
17.3 DBT
South West
16.9 DBT
Sector Dec 16 Change on Nov 16
Professional and Scientific 22.1 +8.2
Business from Home 22.0 +9.7
International Bodies 21.9 +2.9
Business Admin & Support 19.3 +4.0
Health & Social 19.0 +2.1
REGIONS
It is interesting that we have seen a very
similar pattern across the regions and nations
of the UK with average increases of around
three days in nearly all areas. There also
seems to have been a coming together across
the country as well without some of the usual
differentials that we have been used to seeing,
with some regions well over 20 DBT while
others are below ten.
Once again we need to start our regional
analysis by looking at London, which now
finds itself back on top of the pile as the
slowest paying region with an increase of
nearly three and half days, putting it up to
just over 18 DBT on average. While this is
regrettable given the improvements we’d
seen in the second half of the year, it is still
better than the performance we were seeing
at the beginning of 2016. London’s poor
performance has managed to save Northern
East
Midlands
15.6 DBT
London
18.1 DBT
East Anglia
16.4 DBT
South East
17.3 DBT
We must never forget
how important the
and it is disappointing
to see Business Admin
and Support along with
Business From Home and
IT and Comms back up on
our ‘Walls of Shame’ when
it comes to either poor
payment overall or for
worsening performance.
Ireland the ignominy of coming bottom, but
even though the province has seen a small
worsening, along with much of the rest of the
country, the last few months have seen some
its best results in the last two to three years.
With the shrinking differential between
regions it seems a bit harsh to be too critical
of Wales, the West Midlands and the South
East which are all just about half a day away
from appearing in the Top Five rather than
the Bottom Five. So, on a brighter note it’s
a happy return to old times as we welcome
Yorkshire and Humberside back to the top of
the league of fastest paying region. It might
not be quite as prestigious as Hull’s elevation
to become the UK’s City of Culture but it’s
a good start for 2017. It has undoubtedly
been helped by the surprising jump in
delayed payments seen in East Anglia, which
has pushed them off the top. The other
encouraging note is a better performance
from Scotland, which saw an improvement in
November balanced by hardly any change in
December and a resulting leap up the charts.
Indeed, Scotland, like Northern Ireland, had a
strong end to 2016 and remains well ahead of
its average position over the last two years.
As I wrote last month, compared to the rest
of the world our average scores and payment
culture still lag a long way behind other
countries and as we move into 2017 I can only
hope that we can regain some of Autumn’s
momentum and help turn this around. Sadly,
I think we all have colleagues who still believe
it is somehow acceptable to treat our own
suppliers in a way they would never expect
customers to behave. If I could have one New
Year’s wish it would be to put a few others
into our own shoes for a spell so they could
perhaps appreciate the impact of payment
delays on us all.
The recognised standard
Top Five Prompter Payers
Bottom Five Poorer Payers
www.cicm.com January / February 2017 43