That’s the finding from the Barclays Local Business annual Late Payments report.
The report showed that the on a typical day, construction firms in England and Wales are ВЈ2,837 out of pocket as a result of suppliers or customers failing to pay within 30 days.
The total figure has resulted in these SMEs losing nearly £1.1 billion over the last twelve months due to non-payments – an average of £1,292 per business.
John Davis, marketing director for Barclays Local Business said: "Despite some recent positive economic signs, it’s concerning that late payments are on the rise. This is a serious issue for the construction firms we talked to - four in ten say it threatens their day-to-day survival."
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The survey also found that firms typically have to wait 13.3 days after the invoice due date before they get paid. On average they spend 1.4 hours a day chasing late payment.
And Barclays found that the problem showed few signs of easing - 65% of companies polled in the survey said they thought the problem was likely to get worse over the next 12 months.
