The UK Food & Drink sector's average payment performance in 2020 is slightly underwhelming, sitting 3.3 points below the national average, based on a PaymentCheck score analysis of 130 companies. The gulf between the best and worst payers is staggering – CORNEY AND BARROW's score is over 50 times higher than CATERMASTERS CONTRACT CATERING LIMITED, demonstrating a vast disparity in payment practices.
Payment performance varies considerably across the UK regions. London-based companies achieve an average of 55.4, significantly outperforming the East Midlands at 45.5 and Wales at 46.5, suggesting regional differences in business practices or financial pressures. Although a limited sample size, the "Unknown" region tops all others at 67.6 – it's possible these companies' anonymity correlates to positive payment behavior.
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While there is regional variation, the Food and Drink sector’s overall PaymentCheck score of 46.7 demonstrates an area of concern when compared to the UK average of 50.0.
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