While the manufacturing sector edges out the UK average in payment performance, the incredibly wide range between the best and worst payers – a chasm of 97.5 points – indicates a real problem with payment consistency. Some massive companies appear to be struggling with payments, and it's a situation that could put their suppliers at risk.
London leads the pack with an average of 57.8, but the South East's score of 52.1, with a sample size of 40 companies, reveals surprisingly mediocre performance compared to London and the North West (56.9) in what is often considered a more affluent area. The small sample size for Northern Ireland (55.0) and the North East (53.8) does make it hard to draw any meaningful insights for these regions.
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Despite the sector's slightly above-average score of 50.3, the presence of TATA STEEL UK LIMITED so deep in the bottom five (8.33) highlights that size isn't necessarily indicative of good payment practices.
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