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Creative Payment Practices Report 2020

•By PaymentCheck•Reports

UK Creative Sector Outperforms Average on Payment Practices, but Significant Disparities Persist

The Numbers

  • Companies analysed: 63
  • Average PaymentCheck Score: 63.7/100
  • UK average: 50.0/100
  • Difference: Creative is 13.7 points above the UK average
  • Scotland Average: 70.1/100 (3 companies)
  • London Average: 68.4/100 (28 companies)
  • Top Payer Score: 97.55/100 (BLACKHAWK NETWORK EMEA LIMITED)
  • Bottom Payer Score: 30.2/100 (DUNE GROUP LIMITED)

What Stands Out

While the creative sector's average payment score is demonstrably better than the UK average, the large gap between the best and worst payers suggests wildly inconsistent payment experiences for creative freelancers and businesses. London, despite housing a large portion of the analyzed companies (28), doesn't top the regional payment table, indicating size isn't necessarily indicative of better payment behaviour.

Best Payers

  1. BLACKHAWK NETWORK EMEA LIMITED - 97.55/100
  2. THAT LOT CREATIVES LIMITED - 97.4/100
  3. AMAZON UK SERVICES LTD. - 95.2/100
  4. BBC GRAFTON HOUSE PRODUCTIONS LIMITED - 94.1/100
  5. NECTAR 360 SERVICES LLP - 94/100

Worst Payers

  1. DUNE GROUP LIMITED - 30.2/100
  2. GO OUTDOORS LIMITED - 31.6/100
  3. C J CLARK INTERNATIONAL LIMITED - 32.14/100
  4. W & J LINNEY LIMITED - 34.6/100
  5. VOW EUROPE LIMITED - 36.3/100

Regional Patterns

Scotland, albeit based on a small sample size of just 3 companies, shows the highest average payment score at 70.1, suggesting that location might play a role in payment efficiency. However, the sample sizes for regions other than London are relatively small, so it's tough to draw definitive conclusions about regional disparities in the creative sector, but this data certainly suggests further investigation is needed. If you're experiencing late payments, remember you can use a late payment calculator to understand the potential interest owed.

Despite the creative sector as a whole performing above average at 63.7/100, the bottom 5 payers, scoring between just 30.2 and 36.3, highlight a pocket of companies that are really letting the side down.