Following extensive engagement with ACE members, we have responded to BEIS’ consultation on responsible payment. 

Our response was compiled thanks to the input of members who completed a survey and we also added information from our annual benchmarking project.

A long-standing issue for many in the industry, the benchmarking study suggests that responsible payment practices currently remains an aspiration, rather than a reality:

• The consultants surveyed spent as much time chasing late payments as they did bidding for new work in 2017/18.
• The average debtors’ days were 75.4 days
• In one particular case, 80% of an SME’s revenue was paid late outside contract terms.

While government has made plenty of positive noises in this space, we are still far from seeing this translated in to a more responsible payment culture. 

ACE’s Legal and Commercial forum supports our members in this space, leading our recent work engaging with the Prompt Payment Compliance Board and co-ordinating this response to the BEIS consultation.

The group will produce a report on fair-contracting and procurement in 2019 as part of ACE’s Future of Consultancy campaign.

The full ACE response, including a breakdown of individual results to our survey questions, can be downloaded below.