Online business resource The UK Domain has submitted a freedom of information request to the Small Business Commissioner (SBC), to reveal the locations and business sectors most impacted by unpaid invoices in the private sector.
Between December 2017 and 8 July 2020, there were 429 complaints made relating to unpaid or late invoices. The data revealed the highest percentage of invoice claims were from business services (23%), which according to the SBC is any service that supports commercial activity.
Following closely behind were those in the construction and engineering (14%) and retail sectors (10%). Consumer, financials and recruitment (1%) on the other hand, were the sectors with the lowest amount of claims to the SBC.
The regional data pinpoints the locations where businesses had the most trouble collecting their overdue invoices.
Companies submitting the highest number of invoice complaints were those located in Greater London (12%), followed by West Midlands (9%) and the North West (9%). 1% of invoice complaints were from those situated in Northern Ireland, Wales and Yorkshire. Businesses in the North East on the other hand, had no unpaid invoice complaints submitted to the SBC.