Their own payment-practices filing · gov.uk

Costain Engineering & Construction Limited paid suppliers in 18 days on average — inside its shortest stated term

CRN 02440829 · Construction · 11 statutory reports on record · period to 30 Jun 2023

Dated record. The latest report covers a period ending 30 Jun 2023 and the company hasn’t filed since (it may have dropped below the reporting threshold). Treat the figures as historical.

18daysavg time to pay · H1 2023

Their H1 2023 filing put the average 3 days inside the shortest term they state (21 days).

Their stated terms: 21–45 days
Paid outside agreed terms: 9% of invoices
Paid after 61+ days: 1%
Reporting period: 1 Jan 2023 – 30 Jun 2023
Source: their gov.uk filing, filed 27 Jul 2023

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

Terms vs reality · their H1 2023 filing

Paid 3 days inside the 21-day term they state

PAIDLATE · terms vs the clockdays to pay · 0–50

avg 18d

0 days50 days

reported avg 18 days their filed terms 21–45 days UK median 31 days · n = 6,104 recent filers

Where their invoices landed · share of all invoices

within 30 days 89% 31–60 days 10% 61+ days 1%

Source: their statutory Payment Practices Report #73717, period 1 Jan 2023 – 30 Jun 2023, filed 27 Jul 2023 · gov.uk payment-practices service

Costain Engineering & Construction Limited paid 3 days inside the shortest term it states. 9% of invoices still went outside agreed terms; 1% reached 61 days or more. Self-reported in their statutory H1 2023 filing.

The pattern · last 6 of 11 reports

32 → 18 days — faster across the window

PAIDLATE · the patternavg days per report

Last 6 of 11 filed reports · linear day scale · every period is in the table below · Source: gov.uk payment-practices service

14 days faster across the window. From 32 days in H2 2020 to 18 in the H1 2023 filing; the dashed line marks the 21-day term they state.

The read · computed from their figures

Costain Engineering & Construction Limited's H1 2023 filing put their average at 18 days against stated terms of 21–45 days; 9% of invoices were paid outside agreed terms and 1% took 61 days or longer. Filed 27 Jul 2023.

The direction is faster: from 32 days in H2 2020 to 18 now — 14 days faster across their last 6 reports.

That is 11 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

Costain Engineering & Construction Limited is a holding and services company within the Costain Group. The administration of the few suppliers it engages is handled by a fellow subsidiary, Costain Limited. Terms are agreed with suppliers as part of contract negotiations.

Dispute resolution

Costain Engineering & Construction Limited actively seeks to resolve disputes by discussing them with the relevant supplier(s), generally involving members of the accounts or accounts payable team; where necessary, members of management will be involved.

Every statutory report on record

Most recent first.

Period	Avg days	Outside terms	61+ days	Filed
H1 2023	18	9%	1%	27 Jul 2023
H2 2022	19	9%	2%	31 Jan 2023
H1 2022	19	12%	2%	28 Jul 2022
H2 2021	21	13%	3%	27 Jan 2022
H1 2021	25	19%	5%	28 Jul 2021
H2 2020	32	26%	9%	28 Jan 2021
H1 2020	38	32%	10%	30 Jul 2020
H2 2019	32	28%	7%	28 Jan 2020
H1 2019	36	39%	16%	29 Jul 2019
H2 2018	58	64%	32%	30 Jan 2019
H1 2018	60	68%	28%	31 Jul 2018

On the public register · Companies House

Company record

Status: Active
Type: Private Limited Company
Incorporated: 7 Nov 1989
Registered office: SEVENTH FLOOR, LONDON, EC3A 8BE

2 outstanding charges — secured borrowing registered Accounts due 30 Sept 2027

Open the full record at Companies House.

Quick answers · Costain Engineering & Construction Limited

Are they getting slower or faster?

Their reported average has moved about 14 days faster over the window (32 → 18 days).

What's their typical pay point?

Their latest filed report put the average at day 18; across their last 6 reports it ranged 18–32 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 Costain Engineering & Construction Limited (free)

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More large companies in construction

Cormac Solutions Limited · Costain Limited · Connect Plus (M25) Limited · Costain Oil, Gas & Process Limited · Concrete Repairs Limited · Countryside Properties (UK) 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-02440829 · latest period to 30 Jun 2023

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