// payment practices, as filed · company 11444362
National Oceanography Centre: how it pays its suppliers, from its own filing
National Oceanography Centre reports paying its suppliers in an average of 23 days, with 16% of invoices paid later than the agreed terms, for the period 1 October 2025 to 31 March 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.
23 days
Average days to pay
longer than 21% of the 1,496 filers; median 31 days
16%
Paid later than agreed
a higher share than 54% of filers; median 14%
86%
Paid within 30 days
3% took longer than 60 days
The terms it declares
- Standard payment terms
- 0 to 60 days
- Maximum contractual period
- 60 days
- Paid in 31 to 60 days
- 11%
- Paid after 60 days
- 3%
- Not paid because of a dispute
- 0%
- Filed on
- 30 April 2026
Their standard terms, in their words
NOC standard payment terms is 30 days which is detailed in our standard terms and conditions. The maximum contractual payment period is 60 days. Suppliers are notified of any changes in writing and any disputes can be raised with the Accounts Payable team for review and action.
Retention
- Retention clauses in construction contracts
- yes
- Standard retention rate
- 5%
- In all construction contracts
- no
- Same terms they receive from their own client
- yes
- When they apply retention
- Generally retention clauses are applied only to high-value, high-complexity contracts, or to contracts where failure would be critical to the operation of the organisation's sites. A specific contract sum is not used in determining the application of a retention clause.
- On parity with their client
- The industry-standard retention rate of 5% is applied, with 2.5% released upon Practical Completion and the remaining 2.5% released at the end of the 52-week defects liability period.
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. National Oceanography Centre is above the median on that measure, so build the delay into your cash flow before you sign. 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. National Oceanography Centre is at or inside the sector figure on days. 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 National Oceanography Centre
- How long does National Oceanography Centre take to pay its suppliers?
- National Oceanography Centre reported an average of 23 days to pay an invoice for 1 October 2025 to 31 March 2026, with 86% 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 National Oceanography Centre pay late?
- By its own filing, 16% of National Oceanography Centre'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.
- Does National Oceanography Centre hold retention?
- Yes. National Oceanography Centre declares retention clauses in its construction contracts at a standard rate of 5%, though not in all of them. The filing's own wording is quoted above.
- Can I charge National Oceanography Centre 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 111399, 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.