Statutory interest and collection charges will be extended to apply to late payment on all commercial contracts from 7 August 2002.
Nearly four years after the government brought in statutory interest on invoices issued by small firms, the average payment period in the UK is 59.9 days - a marginal improvement on 60.4 days six months ago - but two days longer than when the legislation was introduced.
The average payment period for large companies has increased from 72 days in 1998 when late payment was introduced, to 77.9 days in May 2002. Large companies will now come under pressure as they are chased for late payment by other large companies.
Overall, small and medium sized companies take respectively 58.7 and 58.5 days to pay their suppliers.
The electricity industry takes an average of 70.3 days to pay its bills compared to six months ago, when an average 68.9 days was recorded.
