// payment practices, as filed · company 01996687
BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd: how it pays its suppliers, from its own filing
BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd reports paying its suppliers in an average of 25 days, with 11% of invoices paid later than the agreed terms, for the period 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026. Across the 1,496 companies that report on construction contracts, the median is 31 days and 14% late. Every figure below is the company’s own, approved by a director and published on the government register; this page reproduces it and says what it means for a subcontractor.
25 days
Average days to pay
longer than 28% of the 1,496 filers; median 31 days
11%
Paid later than agreed
a higher share than 39% of filers; median 14%
68%
Paid within 30 days
3% took longer than 60 days
The terms it declares
- Standard payment terms
- 0 to 61 days
- Maximum contractual period
- 61 days
- Paid in 31 to 60 days
- 29%
- Paid after 60 days
- 3%
- Not paid because of a dispute
- 0%
- Filed on
- 31 July 2026
Their standard terms, in their words
Our 2025 Standard Conditions of Purchase provide for payment at the end of the month following the month in which an invoice is received, subject to (i) a valid invoice being properly provided by the supplier and (ii) the relevant Supplies being delivered and accepted by us, in accordance with the contract. The full text of the standard payment term can be located in Clause 9 of the 2025 Standard Conditions of Purchase at: https://www.baesystems.com/en-uk/what-we-do/suppliers/united-kingdom. Whilst the company does contract certain of its material business on the basis of programme-specifi…
Their explanation
Where the date that an invoice has been received cannot be reliably established (primarily due to IT limitations), the supplier’s invoice date is used as day “0” for the purposes of the calculation of the reported payment statistics. It is not precisely known when payments actually credit into a supplier’s bank account (we do not have systems that accurately record this event). Therefore for the production of the disclosed statistics, we have made a reasoned estimation of when payments have cleared into a supplier's bank account. Where an invoice has been settled through the matching of a c…
Every filing since Jun 2018
BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd has filed 17 times. The share paid late is up 3 points on the previous filing, and the average days to pay down 1 days. The first filing, for the period to 30 June 2018, reported 37 days and 21% late.
| Period to | Days to pay | Paid late | Within 30 days | Over 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 June 2026 | 25 | 11% | 68% | 3% |
| 31 December 2025 | 26 | 8% | 70% | 2% |
| 30 June 2025 | 24 | 8% | 69% | 3% |
| 31 December 2024 | 24 | 8% | 70% | 2% |
| 30 June 2024 | 25 | 11% | 68% | 3% |
| 31 December 2023 | 28 | 9% | 66% | 4% |
Retention
- Retention clauses in construction contracts
- yes
- Standard retention rate
- not stated
- In all construction contracts
- no
- Same terms they receive from their own client
- no
- When they apply retention
- Generally, it is the usual practice of the company to include the use of retention clauses in most qualifying construction contracts but there may be occasional exceptions based on for example project type, supplier negotiation, and/or commercial considerations. Generally, the company’s standard percentage rate in retention clauses in qualifying construction contracts is between 3%-5% but there may be exceptions based on for example project type, supplier negotiation, and/or commercial considerations.
What this means if you are pricing work for them
The share paid later than agreed is the number to read first, because a short term makes an invoice late sooner and a long one hides lateness inside the term. BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd is at or below the median on that measure. The average days to pay sits under the median.
On a 30-day term this company’s average lands inside the term, so a late invoice is the exception. When one is late, the calculator shows what statutory interest and the fixed sum add, which the law lets you charge without a clause.
Against the official benchmark: the Department for Business and Trade’s statistics for 2025, published 14 July 2026, put large construction businesses at 33 days to pay with 14% of invoices late by number (13% by value), and all large businesses at 32 days and 15% late. BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd is at or inside the sector figure on days. Its late share is at or below the sector figure.
What the register does not show: it is self-reported, large companies only, and the filing covers the whole company, not your contract. Read it alongside the notice rules that decide what you are actually owed, and keep your own dates.
Questions subcontractors ask about BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd
- How long does BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd take to pay its suppliers?
- BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd reported an average of 25 days to pay an invoice for 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026, with 68% of invoices paid within 30 days and 3% taking longer than 60 days. The official 2025 figure for large construction businesses is 33 days.
- Does BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd pay late?
- By its own filing, 11% of BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd's invoices were paid later than the agreed terms, against 14% across large construction businesses in 2025 and a median of 14% among the 1,496 companies on this register that declare construction contracts. That is up 3 points on its previous filing (8% for the period to 31 December 2025).
- Does BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd hold retention?
- Yes. BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd declares retention clauses in its construction contracts, though not in all of them. The filing's own wording is quoted above.
- Can I charge BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd interest on a late invoice?
- Yes, under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, from the day after the final date for payment, at 8% over the Bank of England base rate plus a fixed sum per invoice, without any clause in the contract. The calculator works it out for your figures.
Source: the company’s own report on the government’s payment practices service, report 115686, made under the Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations 2017 and reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Register copy taken 2 October 2026; comparisons are against the latest filing of each of the 1,496 companies declaring construction contracts. Figures are as filed, not judged. Not legal advice.
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