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Their own payment-practices filing · gov.uk

How long does British Sugar PLC take to pay its suppliers?

CRN 00315158 · Manufacturing · 17 statutory reports on record · period to 28 Feb 2026

33days
their reported average time to pay suppliers, latest period
Around averagevs a 31-day median across 6,185 recent filers

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

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On the public register · Companies House

Company record

Status
Active
Type
Public Limited Company
Incorporated
12 Jun 1936
Registered office
WESTON CENTRE, LONDON, W1K 4QY
0 outstanding charges on the register Accounts due 28 Feb 2027

Open the full record at Companies House.

Terms vs reality

Stated terms: 30–60 days. Reported average: 33.

Stated terms30–60d
+3 days
Reported avg33d

At a glance

The key figures

30–60d
their stated terms
10%
invoices paid outside terms
±1d
steady pattern

Vs peers · latest reported averages

fasterslower
Faster than 81% of the 992 large companies reporting in manufacturing.

The pattern

Holding steady

Average days to pay across their last 6 statutory reports.

terms 30d
31
31
33
32
33
33
H1 2023H1 2024H1 2024H1 2025H1 2025H1 2026

Where their supplier invoices land · latest period

within 30 days 59% 31–60 days 38% 61+ days 3%

The read · computed from their figures

British Sugar PLC has filed 17 statutory payment periods (earliest H1 2018). Their latest report puts the average at 33 days against stated terms of 30–60 days.

The pattern is steady — their reported average moves within about ±1 days period to period.

In the latest period 10% of invoices were paid outside their agreed terms, and 3% landed 61+ days out.

What they tell their suppliers

5% of invoices in dispute

In their own words · from the filing

Standard payment terms

For suppliers with fewer than 50 employees: Standard payment terms are 30 days upon agreement with the supplier. Shorter payment terms are agreed if needed (generally between 7 and 21 days). For suppliers with more than 50 employees: Standard payment terms are 60 days upon agreement with the supplier. Shorter payment terms are agreed if needed (generally between 7 and 30 days).

Dispute resolution

All invoice queries are chased regularly by the Accounts Payable ("AP") team with the person who raised the order for a resolution within its due date. If no response is received this is escalated to their manager. The AP team will also request any necessary back-up documentation (PODs etc) from the supplier to help resolve the query. If a supplier is querying the payment terms they are on, this is sent to the Procurement department to review against the contract.

Every statutory report on record

Most recent first.

PeriodAvg daysOutside terms61+ daysFiled
H1 20263310%3%27 Mar 2026
H1 2025336%3%30 Sept 2025
H1 2025328%4%3 Apr 2025
H1 2024336%2%1 Oct 2024
H1 2024315%2%26 Mar 2024
H1 2023314%1%22 Sept 2023
H1 2023315%2%21 Mar 2023
H1 2022315%2%27 Sept 2022
H1 20222910%2%29 Mar 2022
H1 2021348%1%28 Sept 2021
H1 2021344%1%15 Mar 2021
H1 2020366%1%24 Sept 2020
H1 2020377%7%25 Mar 2020
H1 2019419%25%17 Sept 2019
H1 20194520%26%11 Apr 2019
H2 20185516%34%12 Oct 2018
H1 20185018%32%11 Apr 2018

Working-capital effect

What a 33-day cycle ties up

Illustrative. On a hypothetical £12k/month account, at a 33-day vs a 30-day payment cycle.

≈ £13,000
of invoicing outstanding at any one time on a 33-day cycle — about £1,200 more than the same account would carry at 30-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 is steady — within about ±1 days period to period, around 33 days.
What's their typical pay point?
Their latest reports average around day 33, moving within about ±1 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 British Sugar PLC (free)

Their next payment report is due ≈ 26 Sept 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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More large companies in manufacturing

British Steel Limited · Britvic Soft Drinks Limited · British Steel Limited · Broadland Wineries Limited · British Polythene Limited · Brompton Bicycle Limited

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-00315158 · latest period to 28 Feb 2026

Verify the original Companies House file

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