Bad payers have been outed. Subbies always knew who they were but this week the government has chosen to name and shame them – or at least give a bunch of them a slap on the wrist. Out of 17 firms named in total, seven are contractors or housebuilders. So let’s list them: Balfour Beatty, Costain, Engie, Interserve, Laing O’Rourke and Persimmon have all been suspended from the Prompt Payment Code (PPC) for failing to pay 95% of supplier invoices within 60 days, while John Sisk has been removed from the code for non-compliance and not providing a plan for how it will meet the terms of the code.

For the others, it’s a temporary suspension with an agreed action plan to reach the requirements within a year. And there could be more names to follow as this was just the first phase of investigation by the Chartered Institute of Credit Management, which oversees the PPC on behalf of the government. A second phase is looming. 

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