The first results of a government initiative compelling firms with an annual turnover of £36m or more to publish how long it takes them to pay invoices have started to come through, with Kier taking 59 days – 21 days longer than Lendlease.

Under new rules that came into effect last April, firms that have a turnover of more than £36m and employ at least 250 staff have to report publicly on their payment policies, practices and performance.

Firms will have to report the nature of their payment terms and the proportion of bills they pay within 30 days, 60 days and later than 60 days. The requirement is gradually kicking in throughout the course of this year, with companies having to publish the payment data within seven months of their first annual results after April 2017

The first tranche of data has been uploaded, mainly consisting of firms with a year ending in June.

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