// payment practices, as filed · company 05633442
Knight Harwood Ltd: how it pays its suppliers, from its own filing
Knight Harwood Ltd reports paying its suppliers in an average of 20 days, with 6% 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.
20 days
Average days to pay
longer than 14% of the 1,496 filers; median 31 days
6%
Paid later than agreed
a higher share than 22% of filers; median 14%
94%
Paid within 30 days
2% took longer than 60 days
The terms it declares
- Standard payment terms
- 30 to 35 days
- Maximum contractual period
- 35 days
- Paid in 31 to 60 days
- 4%
- Paid after 60 days
- 2%
- Not paid because of a dispute
- 6%
- Filed on
- 18 August 2026
Their standard terms, in their words
Suppliers are paid within 30 days and subcontractors within 35 days.
Every filing since Jun 2018
Knight Harwood Ltd has filed 17 times. The share paid late is unchanged on the previous filing, and the average days to pay unchanged. The first filing, for the period to 30 June 2018, reported 18 days and 1% late.
| Period to | Days to pay | Paid late | Within 30 days | Over 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 June 2026 | 20 | 6% | 94% | 2% |
| 31 December 2025 | 20 | 6% | 94% | 2% |
| 30 June 2025 | 20 | 1% | 93% | 1% |
| 31 December 2024 | 20 | 4% | 95% | 1% |
| 30 June 2024 | 20 | 6% | 89% | 2% |
| 31 December 2023 | 20 | 9% | 89% | 2% |
Retention
- Retention clauses in construction contracts
- yes
- Standard retention rate
- 3%
- In all construction contracts
- no
- Same terms they receive from their own client
- yes
- On parity with their client
- Knight Harwood’s policy is to apply retention provisions to subcontractors on a fair and proportionate basis, aligned with the terms of the relevant main contract. Retention applied to our supply chain will not be more onerous than the retention provisions applied to Knight Harwood by our client on the same project. Retentions are reduced and released in accordance with the contractual milestones, typically at Practical Completion and following expiry of the defects/rectification period. We actively monitor outstanding retentions and seek to ensure that sums are released promptly once the rel…
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. Knight Harwood 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. Knight Harwood 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 Knight Harwood Ltd
- How long does Knight Harwood Ltd take to pay its suppliers?
- Knight Harwood Ltd reported an average of 20 days to pay an invoice for 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026, with 94% 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 Knight Harwood Ltd pay late?
- By its own filing, 6% of Knight Harwood 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 unchanged on its previous filing (6% for the period to 31 December 2025).
- Does Knight Harwood Ltd hold retention?
- Yes. Knight Harwood Ltd declares retention clauses in its construction contracts at a standard rate of 3%, though not in all of them. The filing's own wording is quoted above.
- Can I charge Knight Harwood 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 116517, 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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- 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.