North West Payment Practices Report 2020
North West Businesses Leave the Rest of the UK in the Dust When it Comes to Paying Bills
The Numbers
- Companies analysed: 464
- Average PaymentCheck Score: 62.2/100
- UK average: 50.0/100
- North West premium above UK average: 12.2 points
- Top score: 100/100 (multiple companies)
- Bottom score: 3.2/100
What Stands Out
The North West is clearly ahead of the curve, with an average PaymentCheck score significantly exceeding the UK average. However, there's a massive disparity in payment practices, evidenced by the range between the top and bottom performers.
Best Payers
These companies achieved a perfect PaymentCheck score of 100/100, indicating exemplary payment practices:
- RULLION IT PLUS LIMITED
- TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION (U.K.), LTD.
- RULLION ENGINEERING LIMITED
- LUXFER HOLDINGS PLC
- PAYQUEST GROUP LIMITED
It's worth noting that two entries on this list are Rullion entities, suggesting a strong payment culture within that organisation.
Worst Payers
These companies languish at the bottom, suggesting significant room for improvement in their payment habits:
- LEXINGTON CATERING LIMITED - 3.2/100
- ELIOR UK PLC - 7/100
- DNATA CATERING UK LIMITED - 9/100
- TAYLOR SHAW LIMITED - 9.88/100
- AIM ALTITUDE UK LIMITED - 13.8/100
The cluster of catering companies on this list (Lexington, Elior, and DNATA) may indicate systemic issues within that sector.
Sector Breakdown
The Digital Entertainment sector, represented by a single company, tops the list with a perfect 100.0 average. Human Resources (88.9 average across 13 companies) and Train Travel (88.5) also show strong payment performance. Education scores a respectable 81.3 based on 12 companies. More sector data would be needed to make meaningful comparisons.
If you're waiting for payment, use our late payment calculator to see what you are owed.
While the North West outperforms the UK generally, the 58.8-point difference between the average for Digital Entertainment and Lexington Catering's score of 3.2 shows not everyone is pulling their weight.
Read next
Late payment in the UK is quietly improving — but your invoice still depends on who you sell to
We analysed over 100,000 published UK payment-practice reports. Late payment is falling — from 20% of invoices paid outs
UK Company Payment Practices 2025: Biggest Risers, Fallers & New Entrants
How UK companies' payment practices changed in 2025 — the biggest improvers, the firms slipping, and the strongest new e
Agriculture Payment Practices Report 2025
The UK agriculture sector is significantly outperforming the UK average for payment practices, suggesting a degree of fi
Northern Ireland Payment Trends: 2024 vs 2025
The year-on-year decline of 0.1 points, while statistically insignificant, suggests a stagnation in payment performance