The Sidetrade tracker, which shows the week-by-week payment behaviour of more than 3.7 million businesses in six European countries, has highlighted the British industries gravely impacted by payment delays tied to the coronavirus crisis.
Freely accessible to all private sector decision-makers and public authorities, the tracker shows that 76% of invoices are over 10 days overdue in the finance, insurance, and real estate sectors in the UK as of May 25.
In the ICT (information, communication, technology) world, 60% of invoices are over 10 days overdue, while the same is true for 55% of invoices in leisure and hospitality.
“Note that finance, insurance, real estate, as well as ICT are areas where late payment rate [in the UK] was already high prior to the pandemic: 56% and 53%, respectively,” said Sidetrade, which also tracks unpaid invoices in France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
The artificial intelligence specialist added: “With 38% unpaid invoices as of May 25, 2020, the UK has seen a slight improvement in customer-supplier relations. This is the first positive effect of lockdown exit.
“Nonetheless, the unpaid rate remains extremely high, representing a threat for many businesses. Late payment deterioration in the UK rose +26%.”
