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Their own payment-practices filing · gov.uk

WH Smith Travel Limited pays suppliers in 56 days on average — inside its 90-day stated terms

CRN 06560378 · Wholesale & retail trade · 18 statutory reports on record · period to 31 Aug 2026

56daysavg time to pay · H1 2026

Their H1 2026 filing puts the average 34 days inside their stated 90-day term.

Slower than mostvs a 31-day median across 6,104 recent filers
Their stated terms
90 days
Paid outside agreed terms
30% of invoices
Paid after 61+ days
29%
Reporting period
1 Mar 2026 – 31 Aug 2026
Source
their gov.uk filing, filed 30 Sept 2026

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

Terms vs reality · their H1 2026 filing

Paid 34 days inside the 90-day term they state

The pattern · last 6 of 18 reports

53 → 56 days — slowing down

The read · computed from their figures

WH Smith Travel Limited's H1 2026 filing puts their average at 56 days against stated terms of 90 days; 30% of invoices were paid outside agreed terms and 29% took 61 days or longer. Filed 30 Sept 2026.

The direction is slower: from 53 days in H1 2024 to 56 now — 3 days slower across their last 6 reports.

On the latest reported averages: Slower than 84% of the 815 large companies reporting in wholesale & retail trade.

That is 18 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

WHSmith standard payment terms are 90 days after the end of the month of receipt by WHSmith of a proper invoice or if later after the acceptance of the Goods or Services. However, WHSmith negotiates payment terms individually with suppliers and on a product specific basis. Any contractual package agreed by WHSmith and the supplier usually includes payment terms which are lower than the standard 90 days terms. The WHSmith vendor buyer agreement allows for the offset of amounts owed by the supplier against invoices owed to the supplier. This is normal business practice and protects amounts that are owed to WHSmith. An invoice is deemed settled when it is fully offset by amounts owed to WHSmith.

Dispute resolution

The Business has an ongoing communication with Suppliers through both the Trading and the financial accounting teams. Payment disputes will be directed to the financial accounting teams for resolution in the first instance and will be escalated to the Trading teams where there is a contractual query.

Every statutory report on record

Most recent first.

PeriodAvg daysOutside terms61+ daysFiled
H1 20265630%29%30 Sept 2026
H1 20265130%29%27 Mar 2026
H1 20255833%34%30 Sept 2025
H1 20256631%36%27 Mar 2025
H1 20246728%39%24 Sept 2024
H1 20245320%21%28 Mar 2024
H1 20238025%34%19 Sept 2023
H1 20237219%35%27 Mar 2023
H1 20226318%35%13 Sept 2022
H1 20226419%34%14 Mar 2022
H1 20217321%34%11 Sept 2021
H1 20216822%36%15 Mar 2021
H1 20207725%44%11 Sept 2020
H1 20206325%37%14 Mar 2020
H1 20195421%20%12 Sept 2019
H1 20195622%30%13 Mar 2019
H1 20185923%31%20 Sept 2018
H1 20184617%21%29 Mar 2018

On the public register · Companies House

Company record

Status
Active
Type
Private Limited Company
Incorporated
9 Apr 2008
Registered office
WINDMILL HILL BUSINESS PARK, SWINDON, SN5 6PB
0 outstanding charges on the register Accounts due 31 May 2027

Open the full record at Companies House.

Quick answers · WH Smith Travel Limited

Are they getting slower or faster?
Their reported average has moved about 3 days slower over the window (53 → 56 days).
What's their typical pay point?
Their latest filed report puts the average at day 56; across their last 6 reports it ranged 51–67 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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WH Smith Hospitals Limited · Whistles Limited · WH Smith High Street Limited · White Stuff Limited · WFL (UK) Limited · Wickes Building Supplies 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-06560378 · latest period to 31 Aug 2026

Verify the original Companies House file

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