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Their own payment-practices filing · gov.uk

Costain Limited pays suppliers in 25 days on average — 18 days past its stated terms

CRN 00610201 · Construction · 17 statutory reports on record · period to 30 Jun 2026

25daysavg time to pay · H1 2026

Their H1 2026 filing puts the average 18 days past the 7-day term they state.

Faster than mostvs a 31-day median across 6,104 recent filers
Their stated terms
7 days
Paid outside agreed terms
18% of invoices
Paid after 61+ days
3%
Reporting period
1 Jan 2026 – 30 Jun 2026
Source
their gov.uk filing, filed 31 Jul 2026

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

Terms vs reality · their H1 2026 filing

Paid 18 days past their stated terms

The pattern · last 6 of 17 reports

19 → 25 days — slowing down

The read · computed from their figures

Costain Limited's H1 2026 filing puts their average at 25 days against stated terms of 7 days; 18% of invoices were paid outside agreed terms and 3% took 61 days or longer. Filed 31 Jul 2026.

The direction is slower: from 19 days in H2 2023 to 25 now — 6 days slower across their last 6 reports.

On the latest reported averages: Faster than 82% of the 394 large companies reporting in construction.

That is 17 statutory periods on record (earliest H1 2018) — a historical record, not a promise for a new invoice.

What they tell their suppliers

Payment code: Fair Payment Code

In their own words · from the filing

Standard payment terms

Payment terms are agreed with suppliers and subcontractors as part of the contract arrangement and invoices must show the order number. Terms very between 7 days where we have some rental invoices and payment is made once the invoice is processed to 60 days from the date of invoices. The most frequent payment term for supplier within the reporting period is 30 days from the date of the invoice with payment to these suppliers generally made after receiving the statement from the supplier.

Dispute resolution

Costain Limited actively seeks to resolves disputes by discussing with the relevant suppliers and typically involving members of the relevant projects supply chain, procurement and commercial teams and the relevant accounts or accounts payable team. For major suppliers and subcontractors, central procurement will likely be involved and, where necessary, members of management. Where it is not possible to reach agreement, usually on entitlement in relations to subcontractors, several potential dispute resolution methods may be used, most commonly, mediation or adjudication. If it remains impossible to reach agreement, the items may be referred for litigation.

Every statutory report on record

Most recent first.

PeriodAvg daysOutside terms61+ daysFiled
H1 20262518%3%31 Jul 2026
H2 20252015%4%30 Jan 2026
H1 20252212%3%31 Jul 2025
H2 20243114%2%30 Jan 2025
H1 20242013%3%30 Jul 2024
H2 20231910%2%30 Jan 2024
H1 2023189%1%27 Jul 2023
H2 2022199%2%31 Jan 2023
H1 20221912%2%28 Jul 2022
H2 20212113%3%27 Jan 2022
H1 20212519%5%28 Jul 2021
H2 20203226%9%28 Jan 2021
H1 20203832%10%30 Jul 2020
H2 20193228%7%28 Jan 2020
H1 20193639%16%29 Jul 2019
H2 20185361%24%30 Jan 2019
H1 20185967%26%31 Jul 2018

On the public register · Companies House

Company record

Status
Active
Type
Private Limited Company
Incorporated
25 Aug 1958
Registered office
SEVENTH FLOOR, LONDON, EC3A 8BE
7 outstanding charges — secured borrowing registered Accounts due 30 Sept 2027

Open the full record at Companies House.

Illustrative · working-capital arithmetic

What a 25-day cycle ties up

A worked example, not a finding. On a hypothetical £12k/month account, at a 25-day vs a 7-day payment cycle.

≈ £10,000
of invoicing outstanding at any one time on a 25-day cycle — about £7,100 more than the same account would carry at 7-day terms.

Late Payment Act. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 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 · Costain Limited

Are they getting slower or faster?
Their reported average has moved about 6 days slower over the window (19 → 25 days).
What's their typical pay point?
Their latest filed report puts the average at day 25; across their last 6 reports it ranged 19–31 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.
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More large companies in construction

Costain Engineering & Construction Limited · Costain Oil, Gas & Process Limited · Cormac Solutions Limited · Countryside Properties (UK) Limited · Connect Plus (M25) Limited · CRH Fencing & Security Group (UK) Ltd

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 6,104 companies with a current statutory report — every sector pooled, not an average of sector medians (how the figure is built).

Report PL-00610201 · latest period to 30 Jun 2026

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