- Not-for-profit company among best for prompt payment to its suppliers
- 98% of suppliers are paid within 60 days and 92% within 30 days
- The company has signed up to the Prompt Payment Code and exceeds the UK Government standards introduced last year
Welsh Water supports its suppliers better than most – both paying suppliers quicker than any other water company and better than most companies, new figures have revealed.
Companies which supply the only not-for-profit water company in England and Wales, which serves around three millions customers across most of Wales, Herefordshire, and parts of Deeside and Cheshire, are paid within a month in the vast majority of cases. The UK average is just over half of suppliers being paid within 30 days – with Welsh Water the best-performing water and sewerage company in England and Wales.
A total of 92% of suppliers were paid by Welsh Water within 30 days of the company receiving invoices, compared to 53% for water and sewerage companies who have published figures, and also 53% for the average across all sectors. A further 6% were paid within 60 days, while only 2% were paid later than that.
The performance represents an improvement for the company, improving from an average of 46% paid within 30 days a year before. It follows improvements made to its procurement systems processes.
Now reported twice a year, the latest results cover the six months to September 2018 – and show that the company already exceeds the Prompt Payment Code standards, which sets out UK Government standards for payment practices and guidance on best practice.
The Code requires that 95% of invoices should be paid within 60 days and to work towards a 30-day deadline as the norm.
Welsh Water’s Finance Director, Peter Bridgewater, said: “As a not-for-profit water company, we see ourselves not just as a company based in Wales – but at the heart of the communities we serve.
“We contribute over £1 billion a year to the Welsh economy, and as one of Wales’ largest companies and employers, how we work with our partners and supply chain is critical to ensuring our impact is an overwhelmingly positive one.
“I’m delighted that we are now exceed the Prompt Payment Code standards and we are working to improve the speed we pay our suppliers yet further – ensuring our smaller suppliers in particular can depend on us being responsible partners, making sure they are viable businesses by getting their cash to them quickly.”