Their own payment-practices filing · gov.uk
Economist Newspaper Limited(THE) pays suppliers in 18 days on average — inside its shortest stated term
Their H1 2026 filing puts the average 12 days inside the shortest term they state (30 days).
- Their stated terms
- 30–60 days
- Paid outside agreed terms
- 26% of invoices
- Paid after 61+ days
- 1%
- Reporting period
- 1 Oct 2025 – 31 Mar 2026
- Source
- their gov.uk filing, filed 1 May 2026
Self-reported figures from their statutory filing. How this is compiled.
Terms vs reality · their H1 2026 filing
Paid 12 days inside the 30-day term they state
Where their invoices landed · share of all invoices
The pattern · last 6 of 16 reports
Holding steady around 18 days
The read · computed from their figures
Economist Newspaper Limited(THE)'s H1 2026 filing puts their average at 18 days against stated terms of 30–60 days; 26% of invoices were paid outside agreed terms and 1% took 61 days or longer. Filed 1 May 2026.
The pattern is steady — their reported average moves within about ±1 days period to period.
On the latest reported averages: Faster than 85% of the 476 large companies reporting in information & communication.
That is 16 statutory periods on record (earliest H2 2018) — a historical record, not a promise for a new invoice.
In their own words · from the filing
Standard payment terms
The Economist’s default payment terms are 30 days from date of invoice. However payment terms depend on agreements with respective suppliers The most common supplier terms during the reporting period are: • 30 days: 92% • 15 days: 8%
Dispute resolution
The Accounts Payable team registers all invoices within the financial system on a daily basis. Invoices are then sent to staff in the business for approval, via workflow. If any invoices are disputed, the staff members responsible will workflow the invoice back to Account Payable, providing details of the dispute. Disputed invoices are placed on hold. Payment disputes are dealt with by the staff member responsible for the supplier relationship. The accounts payable team are able to identify invoices in dispute and regularly follow up with staff members to check status of approval. Once the dispute is resolved, the invoice is approved and paid. A payment dispute may also be raised by contacting the accounts payable team.
Every statutory report on record
Most recent first.
| Period | Avg days | Outside terms | 61+ days | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H1 2026 | 18 | 26% | 1% | 1 May 2026 |
| H2 2025 | 18 | 29% | 1% | 17 Oct 2025 |
| H1 2025 | 19 | 42% | 1% | 30 Apr 2025 |
| H2 2024 | 19 | 44% | 2% | 30 Apr 2025 |
| H1 2024 | 19 | 45% | 1% | 30 Apr 2025 |
| H2 2023 | 18 | 34% | 1% | 30 Apr 2025 |
| H1 2023 | 17 | 32% | 1% | 26 Apr 2023 |
| H2 2022 | 18 | 39% | 2% | 26 Oct 2022 |
| H1 2022 | 18 | 38% | 1% | 29 Apr 2022 |
| H2 2021 | 18 | 37% | 1% | 29 Oct 2021 |
| H1 2021 | 18 | 37% | 1% | 30 Apr 2021 |
| H2 2020 | 20 | 48% | 3% | 30 Oct 2020 |
| H1 2020 | 16 | 36% | 1% | 16 Jun 2020 |
| H2 2019 | 18 | 43% | 2% | 30 Oct 2019 |
| H1 2019 | 19 | 46% | 1% | 30 May 2019 |
| H2 2018 | 18 | 41% | 2% | 30 May 2019 |
On the public register · Companies House
Company record
- Status
- Active
- Type
- Private Limited Company
- Incorporated
- 14 Jan 1929
- Registered office
- THE ADELPHI, LONDON, WC2N 6HT
Quick answers · Economist Newspaper Limited(THE)
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How UK payment reporting works
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Is this official government data?
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 6,104 companies with a current statutory report — every sector pooled, not an average of sector medians (how the figure is built).
Report PL-00236383 · latest period to 31 Mar 2026
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