Their own payment-practices filing · gov.uk

How long does National Express Limited take to pay its suppliers?

CRN 00232767 · Transport & storage · 16 statutory reports on record · period to 31 Dec 2025

38days

their reported average time to pay suppliers, latest period

Slower than mostvs a 31-day median across 6,185 recent filers

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

On the public register · Companies House

Company record

Status: Active
Type: Private Limited Company
Incorporated: 18 Aug 1928
Registered office: NATIONAL EXPRESS HOUSE BIRMINGHAM COACH STATION, MILL LANE, BIRMINGHAM, B5 6DD

3 outstanding charges — secured borrowing registered Accounts due 31 Dec 2026

Open the full record at Companies House.

Terms vs reality

Stated terms: 21–45 days. Reported average: 38.

Stated terms21–45d

+17 days

Reported avg38d

At a glance

The key figures

21–45d

their stated terms

11%

invoices paid outside terms

+16d

slower over the window

±12d

variable pattern

Vs peers · latest reported averages

fasterslower

Slower than 60% of the 248 large companies reporting in transport & storage.

The pattern

Getting slower

Average days to pay across their last 6 statutory reports.

terms 21d

H1 2023H2 2023H1 2024H2 2024H1 2025H2 2025

Where their supplier invoices land · latest period

within 30 days 89% 31–60 days 11% 61+ days 0%

The read · computed from their figures

National Express Limited has filed 16 statutory payment periods (earliest H1 2018). Their latest report puts the average at 38 days against stated terms of 21–45 days.

The direction is slower: from 22 to 38 days over the window — about 16 days slower.

In the latest period 11% of invoices were paid outside their agreed terms, and 0% landed 61+ days out.

What they tell their suppliers

2% of invoices in dispute

In their own words · from the filing

Standard payment terms

National Express Limited operates two types of contracts, namely for specific operator services and general goods and services. Operator services payments are settled within 21 days following the contract period-end date. Invoices related to general goods and services contracts will be paid within 45 days after the date on which National Express Limited received the invoice provided it has been supplied together with a valid purchase order number and full details of the services, including goods if relevant, delivered, including description, quantity, price and value added tax

Dispute resolution

The Supplier invoice dispute process is administered by accounts payable within National Express Limited Shared Services Centre. In the event a dispute cannot be resolved between the Supplier and Accounts Payable the dispute us escalated to the Head of Shared Services who will take ownership of the dispute and investigate the circumstances with all parties concerned to seek to achieve an agreed resolution. If the dispute still cannot be resolved, it may be escalated to relevant individuals within the relevant business unit and, if such escalation does not resolve the dispute, the relevant resolution mechanism in the relevant supply contract will be relied on to resolve the dispute.

Every statutory report on record

Most recent first.

Period	Avg days	Outside terms	61+ days	Filed
H2 2025	38	11%	0%	26 Jan 2026
H1 2025	41	12%	2%	5 Aug 2025
H2 2024	18	2%	2%	30 Jan 2025
H1 2024	17	1%	1%	19 Jul 2024
H2 2023	23	3%	3%	31 Jan 2024
H1 2023	22	4%	4%	14 Jul 2023
H2 2022	19	2%	2%	30 Jan 2023
H1 2022	18	4%	4%	26 Jul 2022
H2 2021	25	3%	3%	27 Jan 2022
H1 2021	25	9%	9%	5 Aug 2021
H2 2020	47	17%	17%	28 Jan 2021
H1 2020	28	10%	5%	31 Jul 2020
H2 2019	27	9%	4%	30 Jan 2020
H1 2019	25	17%	3%	30 Jul 2019
H2 2018	23	18%	3%	30 Jul 2019
H1 2018	22	7%	3%	30 Jul 2018

Working-capital effect

What a 38-day cycle ties up

Illustrative. On a hypothetical £12k/month account, at a 38-day vs a 21-day payment cycle.

≈ £15,000

of invoicing outstanding at any one time on a 38-day cycle — about £6,700 more than the same account would carry at 21-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 16 days slower over the window (22 → 38 days).

What's their typical pay point?

Their latest reports average around day 38, moving within about ±12 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 National Express Limited (free)

Their next payment report is due ≈ 29 Jul 2026. 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-00232767 · latest period to 31 Dec 2025

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