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Their own payment-practices filing · gov.uk

Wates Construction Limited pays suppliers in 34 days on average — 4 days past its stated terms

CRN 01977948 · Construction · 17 statutory reports on record · period to 30 Jun 2026

34daysavg time to pay · H1 2026

Their H1 2026 filing puts the average 4 days past the 30-day term they state.

Around averagevs a 31-day median across 6,104 recent filers
Their stated terms
30 days
Paid outside agreed terms
11% of invoices
Paid after 61+ days
1%
Reporting period
1 Jan 2026 – 30 Jun 2026
Source
their gov.uk filing, filed 30 Jul 2026

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

Terms vs reality · their H1 2026 filing

Paid 4 days past their stated terms

The pattern · last 6 of 17 reports

29 → 34 days — slowing down

The read · computed from their figures

Wates Construction Limited's H1 2026 filing puts their average at 34 days against stated terms of 30 days; 11% of invoices were paid outside agreed terms and 1% took 61 days or longer. Filed 30 Jul 2026.

The direction is slower: from 29 days in H2 2023 to 34 now — 5 days slower across their last 6 reports.

On the latest reported averages: Slower than 53% 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.

In their own words · from the filing

Standard payment terms

The standard terms vary according to the type of supply as follows: Sub-Contractors – 45 or 30 days from assessment date. Applications are requested up to 5 days before the assessment date. General Suppliers & Consultants –30 days from date of invoice Suppliers of major materials – 30 days from end of month of supply

Dispute resolution

Wates seeks to avoid disputes by discussing matters directly with the relevant supplier. All standard agreements set out a dispute resolution process. In the first instance contact is with the accounts payment team or commercial staff responsible for the matter. If it cannot be resolved at that level there is an escalated negotiation option involving a senior member of the business team. If the matter cannot be resolved at that senior level the preference is to refer to some form of ADR (mediation, expert determination, etc.) but adjudication or legal proceedings may be used.

Every statutory report on record

Most recent first.

PeriodAvg daysOutside terms61+ daysFiled
H1 20263411%1%30 Jul 2026
H2 20253511%2%30 Jan 2026
H1 20253513%2%29 Jul 2025
H2 20243121%1%29 Jan 2025
H1 20243311%1%29 Jul 2024
H2 20232918%2%29 Jan 2024
H1 20233020%2%28 Jul 2023
H2 20223218%3%27 Jan 2023
H1 20223316%3%29 Jul 2022
H2 20212525%4%28 Jan 2022
H1 20213521%5%29 Jul 2021
H2 20203216%3%27 Jan 2021
H1 20203217%3%29 Jul 2020
H2 20193215%4%29 Jan 2020
H1 20193423%5%30 Jul 2019
H2 20184153%10%29 Jan 2019
H1 20184462%11%27 Jul 2018

On the public register · Companies House

Company record

Status
Active
Type
Private Limited Company
Incorporated
15 Jan 1986
Registered office
WATES HOUSE, LEATHERHEAD, KT22 7SW
0 outstanding charges on the register Accounts due 30 Sept 2027

Open the full record at Companies House.

Illustrative · working-capital arithmetic

What a 34-day cycle ties up

A worked example, not a finding. On a hypothetical £12k/month account, at a 34-day vs a 30-day payment cycle.

≈ £13,500
of invoicing outstanding at any one time on a 34-day cycle — about £1,600 more than the same account would carry at 30-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 · Wates Construction Limited

Are they getting slower or faster?
Their reported average has moved about 5 days slower over the window (29 → 34 days).
What's their typical pay point?
Their latest filed report puts the average at day 34; across their last 6 reports it ranged 29–35 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

Walter Lilly & Co. Limited · Wates Developments Limited · VSL Systems (UK) Limited · Watkin Jones & Son Limited · Volkerstevin Limited · Wentworth House Partnership 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 6,104 companies with a current statutory report — every sector pooled, not an average of sector medians (how the figure is built).

Report PL-01977948 · latest period to 30 Jun 2026

Verify the original Companies House file

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