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Scotland Payment Practices Report 2023

•By PaymentCheck•Reports

Scottish Firms Lead UK in Payment Performance, But Laggards Drag Down Overall Score

The Numbers

  • Companies analysed: 273
  • Average PaymentCheck Score: 66.7/100
  • UK average: 50.0/100
  • Difference between Scotland and UK average: 16.7 points
  • Number of companies with a perfect PaymentCheck Score (100/100): 5
  • Lowest PaymentCheck Score: 11.37/100

What Stands Out

Scottish companies are, on average, significantly better payers than their UK counterparts, evidenced by a 16.7 point lead in the PaymentCheck Score. However, there's a wide gulf between the best and worst performers, indicating inconsistency across businesses in Scotland.

Best Payers

These five companies achieved a perfect score of 100/100, demonstrating exemplary payment practices.

  1. SMS METER ASSETS LIMITED - 100/100
  2. D.P.K. FOODS LTD. - 100/100
  3. FIRST SENTIER INVESTORS (UK) IM LIMITED - 100/100
  4. KILTEARN PARTNERS LLP - 100/100
  5. INNER DOWSING WIND FARM LIMITED - 100/100

Worst Payers

These companies significantly lag behind, potentially causing cash flow problems for their suppliers.

  1. DOBBIES GARDEN CENTRES LIMITED - 11.37/100
  2. PLEXUS CORP (UK) LIMITED - 14.4/100
  3. GUALA CLOSURES UCP LIMITED - 16.5/100
  4. JDR CABLE SYSTEMS LIMITED - 23.25/100
  5. SMITH ANDERSON GROUP LIMITED - 23.4/100

Sector Breakdown

The sector data is limited by very small sample sizes, so broad conclusions are hard to justify, but Transportation Infrastructure, with one company scoring 97.0, and Data, with one company scoring 96.6, are the top two sectors. Financial Services, with a sample of 21 companies, recorded an average of 89.9. Given the sample size for most of these sectors, this information provides very little practical insight.

If you are experiencing late payments, use our late payment calculator to calculate interest and compensation.

TAKEAWAY: Despite an overall higher PaymentCheck Score of 66.7, the presence of companies scoring as low as 11.37 reveals significant disparity in payment practices across Scotland.