You have done the work. The valuation is in. The money is not.
Construction consistently records the highest rate of late payment in the UK, with actual payment times averaging around 61 days against typical 30-day terms. Delays run to 38.2 days beyond agreed terms, the worst of any UK industry.
That is not a reflection on the businesses. It is how the industry is structured.
Why the money moves the wrong way
Materials are bought upfront and labour is paid weekly, but revenue only arrives once someone signs a payment certificate, often weeks after that.
Payment moves down a chain from client to main contractor to subcontractor to supplier, and a delay at the top ripples all the way down, hitting the smaller businesses with the least room to absorb it.
Then retentions. Typically 3% to 5% of contract value withheld across interim payments, half released on practical completion and the rest held until the end of the defects liability period, sometimes two or three years after the work was done. Around £4.5 billion sits in retentions across the sector.
Money you have earned, sitting outside the business while you pay subcontractors, buy materials and fund the next job.
What that looks like in practice
Friday
Wages are due and the payment run has slipped.
Tranches
A developer is paying in stages and the stage is late.
Materials
Out of the business, or out of the director’s own pocket, because the job could not wait.
A new contract
The cost base has moved before any revenue has.
Retentions
Sitting with a main contractor with no realistic date on them.
Construction has had the highest number of insolvencies of any UK sector in recent years, with specialist subcontractors hit hardest, and when money is trapped in retentions or 60 to 90 day payment cycles even profitable firms run out of working capital.
What usually fits
A credit line, for the rainy day
Undrawn until a payment run slips, repaid when it lands. You are not paying for it while it sits there, and a late certificate does not become a payroll problem.
A business credit card, for materials
Materials on the card instead of out of the business account, with cashback on the spend and an interest-free window before it clears. Where materials are being paid for personally, this is usually the first thing to fix.
A term facility, for real capital
Plant, vehicles, a yard, or funding the start of a contract already won.
Where invoice or contract finance is the right structure, we will say so. Products exist that are built specifically to accommodate retentions and applications for payment.
What is changing
On 24 March 2026 the government announced what it called the toughest late payment crackdown in over 25 years: a 60-day cap on payment terms when large firms pay smaller suppliers, mandatory statutory interest at 8% above base rate, and new powers for the Small Business Commissioner to investigate and fine persistent late payers.
The consultation response also confirmed an intention to prohibit the deduction and withholding of retention payments under construction contracts.
The reforms still need primary and secondary legislation, with the first measures expected late 2026 or early 2027. Until then, the gap is still the gap.
If a payment run has slipped and Friday is still Friday, tell us the amount and the timing.
What we need
Send six months of statements and you will know where you stand, usually the same day.
Six months of business bank statements. Here the statements tell the story better than the accounts do. A business can be profitable on paper and completely out of room in the account, and the second of those is what any lending partner will underwrite against.