UK Road Travel Sector Shows Strong Payment Performance, But Laggards Drag Down Overall Score

The Numbers

• Companies Analysed: 266
• Average PaymentCheck Score: 66.5/100
• UK Average (all sectors): 50.0/100
• Road Travel Sector vs. UK Average: +16.5 points
• Top Payer: EPYX LIMITED: 99.4/100
• Bottom Payer: ENGELS (NO.1) LIMITED: 0/100
• Highest Regional Average: Unknown: 81.7/100 (9 companies)
• Lowest Regional Average: Wales: 70.5/100 (10 companies)

What Stands Out

The Road Travel sector's average PaymentCheck score of 66.5 is significantly above the UK average, suggesting a generally healthy payment culture. However, the vast disparity between the top and bottom payers highlights a problem with consistently poor payment practices in certain corners of the industry. You can use this late payment calculator to work out compensation.

Best Payers

1. EPYX LIMITED - 99.4/100
2. LEX AUTOLEASE LIMITED - 98.7/100
3. FIRST TRAVEL SOLUTIONS LIMITED - 97.78/100
4. TRANSPORT TRADING LIMITED - 97.25/100
5. LONDON DIAL-A-RIDE LIMITED - 96.5/100

Worst Payers

1. ENGELS (NO.1) LIMITED - 0/100
2. STAPLETON'S (TYRE SERVICES) LIMITED - 20.3/100
3. MICHELDEVER TYRE SERVICES LIMITED - 22.5/100
4. ALSTOM TRANSPORT UK LIMITED - 27.7/100
5. STADCO LIMITED - 31.9/100

Regional Patterns

While all regions outperform the UK average, the "Unknown" category boasts the highest average, but the small sample size of 9 companies makes it less reliable than other regions. London and Scotland are nearly neck-and-neck, while the South West and Wales come in slightly lower. There are no huge regional variations.

While most of the Road Travel Sector is performing respectably well, the 0/100 score of ENGELS (NO.1) LIMITED is difficult to ignore, clearly demonstrating late payments are still a massive problem for some.

2025: The Story

The Road Travel sector experienced a slight dip in overall payment performance in 2025, with the average score declining by 0.3 points to 66.5/100, and a notable reduction in the number of reporting companies to 266. While the sector average softened, individual company stories highlight significant shifts. BMW (UK) LIMITED demonstrated a remarkable turnaround, soaring by 45.1 points to reach 76.2/100, indicating a focused effort to improve their payment practices. Similarly, ARRIVA PLC improved significantly by 17.3 points to 74.8/100, demonstrating strong positive movement from key players in different sub-sectors.

Conversely, some prominent names faced challenges, with ARVAL UK GROUP LIMITED seeing a decline of 5.5 points to 55.0/100, and PEUGEOT MOTOR COMPANY PLC dropping 5.2 points to 74.8/100. The data also introduced new high-performing entrants like OGILVIE FLEET LIMITED at 95.3/100 and HS1 LIMITED at 89.9/100, which helped to partially offset the overall decline in average performance. With 70 companies exiting the data this year, alongside these significant individual movements, suppliers in this sector should therefore scrutinize individual client payment trends closely, rather than relying solely on the sector average.