UK Media & Publishing Payments Beat National Average, But Big Disparities Remain

The UK Media and Publishing sector significantly outperformed the national average for payment practices in 2021, but a closer look reveals considerable inconsistencies.

The Numbers

• Companies analysed: 36
• Average PaymentCheck Score: 68.5/100
• UK average: 50.0/100 (Media And Publishing is 18.5 points above)
• Top PaymentCheck Score: 99.27/100 (SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT UK LIMITED)
• Bottom PaymentCheck Score: 40.87/100 (ACADEMY MUSIC GROUP LIMITED)

What Stands Out

While the sector's average of 68.5/100 is encouraging, the gap between the best and worst payers, almost 60 points, is alarming and suggests vastly different approaches to supplier relationships. The presence of well-known music industry giants in both the top and bottom tiers indicates that brand reputation isn't always an accurate predictor of payment performance.

Best Payers

1. SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT UK LIMITED - 99.27/100
2. ENTERTAINMENT MAGPIE LIMITED - 96.63/100
3. WHICH? LIMITED - 94.27/100
4. ENTRUST SUPPORT SERVICES LIMITED - 92.45/100
5. SMITHS NEWS TRADING LIMITED - 91.3/100

Worst Payers

1. ACADEMY MUSIC GROUP LIMITED - 40.87/100
2. PARLOPHONE RECORDS LIMITED - 43.57/100
3. THE ORION PUBLISHING GROUP LIMITED - 44.1/100
4. WILLIAM WILSON LTD. - 45.27/100
5. WH SMITH TRAVEL LIMITED - 45.6/100

Regional Patterns

Regional data is limited by small sample sizes, but it's worth noting that the single company categorized as "Unknown" region achieved the highest average score of 99.3/100, while Wales, with three companies, scored a more modest 78.3/100, although these figures probably aren't statistically significant given how few companies are in each region.

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Despite outperforming the UK average by 18.5 points, the bottom five payers averaged only 43.88/100, demonstrating that payment conduct is far from uniform across the sector.