// payment practices, as filed · company 00637019
Motorway Services Ltd: how it pays its suppliers, from its own filing
Motorway Services Ltd reports paying its suppliers in an average of 35 days, with 46% 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.
35 days
Average days to pay
longer than 59% of the 1,496 filers; median 31 days
46%
Paid later than agreed
a higher share than 91% of filers; median 14%
44%
Paid within 30 days
6% took longer than 60 days
The terms it declares
- Standard payment terms
- 40 days
- Maximum contractual period
- 60 days
- Paid in 31 to 60 days
- 50%
- Paid after 60 days
- 6%
- Not paid because of a dispute
- 0%
- Filed on
- 27 July 2026
Their standard terms, in their words
The standard payment terms agreed with most suppliers are 40 days. The company operates a weekly supplier payment run by BACS, which will include all processed invoices due when the payment run is compiled (barring those on hold or in dispute). There are some notable exceptions to these terms: - Franchise fees for many of the brands operated by the company are paid monthly on a date set by the franchisor. - Direct Debits are utilised where deemed required and fit for purpose.
Every filing since Jul 2018
Motorway Services Ltd has filed 17 times. The share paid late is down 30 points on the previous filing, and the average days to pay down 1 days. The first filing, for the period to 30 July 2018, reported 38 days and 88% late.
| Period to | Days to pay | Paid late | Within 30 days | Over 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 June 2026 | 35 | 46% | 44% | 6% |
| 31 December 2025 | 36 | 76% | 32% | 4% |
| 30 June 2025 | 36 | 0% | 28% | 2% |
| 31 December 2024 | 36 | 63% | 27% | 2% |
| 30 June 2024 | 36 | 73% | 37% | 2% |
| 31 December 2023 | 35 | 57% | 30% | 3% |
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
- Depending on the risk profile of construction work.
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. Motorway Services Ltd is above the median on that measure, so build the delay into your cash flow before you sign. 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, 5 days after the final date, carries £16.10 of statutory interest at 11.75% plus the fixed sum, £116.10 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. Motorway Services Ltd is slower than the sector figure. Its late share is above 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 Motorway Services Ltd
- How long does Motorway Services Ltd take to pay its suppliers?
- Motorway Services Ltd reported an average of 35 days to pay an invoice for 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026, with 44% of invoices paid within 30 days and 6% taking longer than 60 days. The official 2025 figure for large construction businesses is 33 days.
- Does Motorway Services Ltd pay late?
- By its own filing, 46% of Motorway Services 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 down 30 points on its previous filing (76% for the period to 31 December 2025).
- Does Motorway Services Ltd hold retention?
- Yes. Motorway Services 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 Motorway Services 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 113809, 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.