Biggest retailers taking longer to pay suppliers

The research shows that eight retailers extended their payment days, with Topps Tiles, Asos, Home Retail Group and Mothercare the worst offenders.

In contrast, ten retailers cut the number of days it took to pay creditors, although this was by just one or two days with the exception of Mulberry, whose payment days reduced by five.

Trade creditor days remained the same in 2013 as 2012 for four retailers, while Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Burberry did not disclose the information.

The company that paid suppliers the fastest was Mulberry, whose average payment time was just 15 days. Marks & Spencer was second with trade creditor days of 24, based on the ratio of company trade creditors at the end of the year to the amounts invoiced during the year by trade creditors.

In contrast, Home Retail Group, the owner of Argos and Homebase, increased trade creditor days by nine from 51 to 60 says, while Asos and Topps Tiles grew from 43 in 2012 to 59 in 2013. Debenhams, which issued a profits warning after a disappointing Christmas, took 60 days to pay suppliers, more than twice as long as M&S.

A spokesman for Home Retail said: “Our suppliers are very important to us. Payment is made in accordance with pre-agreed terms and reflect the markets in which we and our suppliers operate.”

Topps Tiles said: “There has been no policy of extending supplier payment terms this year.”

more