United Kingdom: British brewers pay faster in September

British brewers drastically cut the time it takes for them to pay their bills in September, compared to the same month last year, despite recent steps taken by the world’s biggest beer-makers to stretch out payment terms, Brewers’ Guardian communicated on October, 29.

Latest figures from information provider Experian show that last month Britain’s brewers went a total of 19 days beyond their payment terms, a 3% improvement from the previous month and a 31% cut from September, 2008.

The news comes as many suppliers to major breweries face increasing waits for payment. In June BG revealed that Heineken had joined AB InBev in upping the maximum period to 120 days. Carlsberg meanwhile upped its terms to 95 days.

“Payment performance is a key indicator of a business’s cash flow,” said Experian’s head of commercial credit Joe Myers. “Payment within agreed terms is favourable and this information is used to support credit scores and limits.”

While multinationals such as Heineken-owned S&N UK, InBev UK, Carlsberg and Molson Coors dominate the declining British lager market, advantageous tax rates for smaller operators have inspired a rapid increase in craft brewers in Britain.

Last year alone 71 operators began brewing in Britain, bringing the total number of brewers in the country to 660. The lion’s share of these are small players, producing limited amounts of beer each year.

“Businesses need to be aware that a history of slow payment will have a detrimental effect on their credit score and ultimately the amount of credit available to them,” added Myers.

In the report Experian has logged the biggest month-on-month improvement in business payment trends since December 2007. The firm cites the introduction of its Late Payment Index as a reason for this improvement.

04 November, 2009