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Their own payment-practices filing · gov.uk

How long does Houghton PLC take to pay its suppliers?

CRN 00063827 · Administrative & support services · 4 statutory reports on record · period to 31 Dec 2019

54days
their reported average time to pay suppliers, latest period
Well behindvs a 31-day median across 6,185 recent filers

Self-reported figure from their statutory filing. How this is compiled.

Share
Dated record. The latest report covers a period ending 31 Dec 2019 and the company hasn’t filed since (it may have dropped below the reporting threshold). Treat the figures as historical.

On the public register · Companies House

Company record

Status
Active
Type
Private Limited Company
Incorporated
11 Oct 1899
Registered office
BEACON ROAD, MANCHESTER, M17 1AF
1 outstanding charge — secured borrowing registered Accounts due 30 Sept 2026

Open the full record at Companies House.

Terms vs reality

Stated terms: 14–90 days. Reported average: 54.

Stated terms14–90d
+40 days
Reported avg54d

At a glance

The key figures

14–90d
their stated terms
91%
invoices paid outside terms
+18d
slower over the window
±9d
variable pattern

Vs peers · latest reported averages

fasterslower
Slower than 91% of the 608 large companies reporting in administrative & support services.

The pattern

Getting slower

Average days to pay across their last 4 statutory reports.

terms 14d
36
47
53
54
H1 2018H2 2018H1 2019H2 2019

Where their supplier invoices land · latest period

within 30 days 12% 31–60 days 58% 61+ days 29%

The read · computed from their figures

Houghton PLC has filed 4 statutory payment periods (earliest H1 2018). Their latest report puts the average at 54 days against stated terms of 14–90 days.

The direction is slower: from 36 to 54 days over the window — about 18 days slower.

In the latest period 91% of invoices were paid outside their agreed terms, and 29% landed 61+ days out.

In their own words · from the filing

Standard payment terms

Payment terms are determined by the Procurement Department. Our standard terms are 60 days but other terms can be negotiated

Dispute resolution

The Accounts Payable Department will query any disputed invoices with either the requestor of the goods/services or the Procurement Department. No invoices are processed as approved until all queries are resolved

Every statutory report on record

Most recent first.

PeriodAvg daysOutside terms61+ daysFiled
H2 20195491%29%7 Feb 2020
H1 20195393%29%29 Jul 2019
H2 20184793%22%31 Jan 2019
H1 20183688%18%6 Aug 2018

Working-capital effect

What a 54-day cycle ties up

Illustrative. On a hypothetical £12k/month account, at a 54-day vs a 14-day payment cycle.

≈ £21,500
of invoicing outstanding at any one time on a 54-day cycle — about £15,800 more than the same account would carry at 14-day terms.

Late Payment Act. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act lets a supplier charge statutory interest and fixed compensation on invoices paid past agreed terms. Work out what a late invoice is worth → Whether it applies depends on your contract — check with an adviser.

Quick answers

Are they getting slower or faster?
Their reported average has moved about 18 days slower over the window (36 → 54 days).
What's their typical pay point?
Their latest reports average around day 54, moving within about ±9 days. Treat that as a historical reference point, not a promise for a new invoice.
Can I see what this means for my invoices?
Run the live check — it re-reads their record and their live Companies House file, on the amount you invoice.

Stay ahead

Watch Houghton PLC (free)

Their next payment report is due ≈ 28 Jul 2020. We watch their public record and email you when something changes — a new payment report, late filings, insolvency markers, new charges.

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How UK payment reporting works

What is a Payment Practices Report?
UK companies and LLPs above a size threshold — broadly, two of: turnover over £54m, balance sheet over £27m, or more than 250 employees — must report twice a year, under the Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations 2017, how quickly they actually pay suppliers: the average time to pay, the share of invoices paid in 30 days or fewer, 31 to 60 days and 61 days or longer, and their standard payment terms. Those thresholds apply to financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2025; for earlier financial years they were £36m and £18m, with the same 250-employee test.
What does "paid outside agreed terms" mean?
The share of invoices paid later than the terms in the supplier contract. If terms are 30 days and an invoice is paid on day 45, it counts as paid outside terms, regardless of the headline average.
How often is this data updated?
Each report covers a six-month period and must be filed within 30 days of that period ending, so a company's record refreshes roughly twice a year. PaidLate re-reads the register as new reports are filed.
Is this official government data?
The underlying payment figures come from the company's own statutory filings on the gov.uk payment-practices service; company-status data comes from Companies House. PaidLate calculates trends, comparisons and summaries from those records. It does not use surveys or credit-agency scores.

How this is compiled. Built from official records only: Companies House and the gov.uk payment-practices service. The payment figures are self-reported — companies over the size threshold must file them by law and the board signs them off. No credit-agency data. The numbers are theirs; the plain-English read is ours. This is information compiled from public records under the Open Government Licence v3.0 — not a credit rating and not advice.

The 31-day comparison figure is the median across 6,185 companies with a current statutory report — every sector pooled, not an average of sector medians (how the figure is built).

Report PL-00063827 · latest period to 31 Dec 2019

Verify the original Companies House file

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