UK Reinstates IBM, BT To Prompt Payment Code

After bolstering their supply chain payment practices, five companies that were suspended from the Prompt Payment Code (PPC) in the past have been reinstated. Screwfix, IBM, Seddon Construction, Kier Highways and BT PLC were the five reinstated companies, according to an announcement.

Interim Small Business Commissioner Philip King said in the announcement that “a growing number of businesses have signed up to the code in recent months, and this shows the importance companies place on being signatories to the Code.”

Screwfix was paying 18 percent of invoices in 60 days or less before being suspended and is now paying 91 percent, while Seddon Construction was paying 19 percent of invoices within that time period and is now paying at 92 percent.

IBM was paying 55 percent of invoices in 60 days or less and is now paying at 90 percent, while BT PLC was paying 59 percent of invoices in 60 days or less and is now paying at 94 percent. Kier Highways was paying 79 percent of invoices in 60 days or less and is now paying at 98 percent.

The body said that four of the reinstated firms are working toward “paying 95 percent of all invoices to meet the code criteria.”

“We have moved from paying 59 percent of invoices within 60 days to 94 percent in 10 months thanks to improvements in how we process supplier invoices,” a BT PLC representative said, per the report. “This progress is particularly timely given the pressures [the] coronavirus is putting on cash flow across our diverse supply chain and SME suppliers.”

As previously reported, the Prompt Payment Code mandates that firms that sign onto it pay 95 percent of all supplier invoices within 60 days. Thousands of companies have signed onto the code, according to the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM), as reported last May.

Per news last July, several marquee names had been suspended by the Prompt Payment Code at the time, on the grounds they were giving suppliers payments after the 60 days mandated by the code.