// payment practices, as filed · company SC019039
Bluebird Buses Ltd: how it pays its suppliers, from its own filing
Bluebird Buses Ltd reports paying its suppliers in an average of 32 days, with 14% of invoices paid later than the agreed terms, for the period 4 November 2025 to 2 May 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.
32 days
Average days to pay
longer than 50% of the 1,496 filers; median 31 days
14%
Paid later than agreed
a higher share than 49% of filers; median 14%
50%
Paid within 30 days
2% took longer than 60 days
The terms it declares
- Standard payment terms
- 7 to 60 days
- Maximum contractual period
- 60 days
- Paid in 31 to 60 days
- 48%
- Paid after 60 days
- 2%
- Not paid because of a dispute
- 8%
- Filed on
- 1 June 2026
Their standard terms, in their words
It is the Company’s policy to agree appropriate terms of payment with suppliers for each transaction or series of transactions, and to abide by those terms based on the timely submission of satisfactory invoices. The Company normally settles trade payables on 30 day terms, however variations to these terms do exist based on agreements with certain suppliers.
Every filing since Oct 2017
Bluebird Buses Ltd has filed 18 times. The share paid late is up 6 points on the previous filing, and the average days to pay down 3 days. The first filing, for the period to 30 October 2017, reported 32 days and 4% late.
| Period to | Days to pay | Paid late | Within 30 days | Over 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 May 2026 | 32 | 14% | 50% | 2% |
| 3 November 2025 | 35 | 8% | 50% | 4% |
| 3 May 2025 | 32 | 4% | 45% | 2% |
| 27 October 2024 | 32 | 3% | 41% | 1% |
| 27 April 2024 | 31 | 2% | 44% | 1% |
| 30 October 2023 | 30 | 3% | 53% | 1% |
Retention
This filing declares no retention clauses in its construction contracts. If your subcontract with Bluebird Buses Ltd does hold retention, the contract governs; the retention piece explains how to get it released.
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. Bluebird Buses Ltd is at or below the median on that measure. The average days to pay sits over the median.
A worked example on a 30-day term: an invoice of £10,000.00 paid on this company’s average, 2 days after the final date, carries £6.44 of statutory interest at 11.75% plus the fixed sum, £106.44 in all, which the law lets you add without a clause. Run your own figures.
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. Bluebird Buses 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 Bluebird Buses Ltd
- How long does Bluebird Buses Ltd take to pay its suppliers?
- Bluebird Buses Ltd reported an average of 32 days to pay an invoice for 4 November 2025 to 2 May 2026, with 50% of invoices paid within 30 days and 2% taking longer than 60 days. The official 2025 figure for large construction businesses is 33 days.
- Does Bluebird Buses Ltd pay late?
- By its own filing, 14% of Bluebird Buses 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 6 points on its previous filing (8% for the period to 3 November 2025).
- Does Bluebird Buses Ltd hold retention?
- Bluebird Buses Ltd declares no retention clauses in its construction contracts in this filing. Your subcontract governs; if it holds retention, the contract terms decide when it is released.
- Can I charge Bluebird Buses 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 112189, 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.
// read next
- Pay less notice: what it must say and when it must arriveWhat a pay less notice must contain under s.111 of the Construction Act, the deadline (contract or 7 days before the final date), and what happens if it's late.
- Late payment interest rate UK: how the 8% over base rule works, and why the date mattersUK late payment interest is 11.75% for business invoices due from 1 July 2026. How it is set, the £40/£70/£100 fixed sums, and a worked example on £18,400.
- Which main contractors pay late? What the payment practices register saysTen UK main contractors' filed payment figures: average days to pay, share paid late, report links. Median of 1,496 construction filers: 31 days, 14% late.
- Every company that files on construction contractsThe full A to Z, 1,496 filers, each with its own page.