← Back to Reports

Creative Payment Practices Report 2022

•By PaymentCheck•Reports

UK Creative Sector Payments: A Mixed Bag, But Above Average

The Numbers

  • Companies analysed: 39
  • Average PaymentCheck Score: 67.3/100
  • UK average: 50.0/100 (Creative is 17.3 points above)
  • Top payer: THAT LOT CREATIVES LIMITED - 97.03/100
  • Bottom payer: DIESEL LONDON LIMITED - 19.8/100

What Stands Out

The UK creative sector is paying invoices better than the national average, but there’s a massive gulf between the best and worst performers, with a spread of over 77 points. Diesel London Limited's score of 19.8 is a real outlier.

Best Payers

  1. THAT LOT CREATIVES LIMITED - 97.03/100
  2. BLACKHAWK NETWORK (EUROPE) LIMITED - 94.47/100
  3. THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS - 91.1/100
  4. NEXT HOLDINGS LIMITED - 86.89/100
  5. CANTERBURY OF NEW ZEALAND LIMITED - 86.1/100

Worst Payers

  1. DIESEL LONDON LIMITED - 19.8/100
  2. W & J LINNEY LIMITED - 31.7/100
  3. MISSGUIDED LIMITED - 42.6/100
  4. PMS INTERNATIONAL GROUP PLC - 48.43/100
  5. BRAVISSIMO LIMITED - 49.9/100

Regional Patterns

Scotland's average score of 80.3 is the highest, but it's only based on one company, so it's hard to read too much into it. London, with 16 companies analysed, had a respectable average score of 71.0, suggesting that the capital's creative firms are generally pretty good at paying on time.

If you're struggling to get paid on time, you can use a late payment calculator to help recover debts.

One-line takeaway: While the average PaymentCheck score of 67.3 puts the creative sector above the UK average, DIESEL LONDON LIMITED's shockingly low score of 19.8 indicates that late payment issues are still a very real problem for some.