Laing O’Rourke, Carillion and Kier are among a clutch of major contractors to sing up to the government’s prompt payment code
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills today said 94 FTSE 350 companies have signed up to the prompt payment code since business minister Michael Fallon wrote to big businesses in November urging them to signed up or be named publically.
Among those to have signed up are Carillion, Kier and Laing O’Rourke, as well as Interserve, Mott MacDonald and Willmott Dixon.
Balfour Beatty, Skanska and Miller had already signed up to the code prior to Fallon’s letter.
BIS said a 126 FTSE 350 firms had now signed up to the code.
Fallon said: “Late payment is a real issue for businesses across the country. It is not fair and poor cash flow can prevent small firms growing and even push them into insolvency. We need to improve the payment culture and I welcome the response of big businesses in signing up to the common sense principles in the Prompt Payment Code.
“Signing up demonstrates a serious pledge to pay promptly. Reports of any companies found to be falsely committed to the value of fairness in the Code will be taken very seriously.
“But the work will not stop here. I will keep up pressure on firms to sign up and continue to ensure government leads by example in paying its suppliers on time.”
Full details of the prompt payment code and a list of firms signed up can be found here.
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