// payment practices, as filed · company 01471587
Vodafone Ltd: how it pays its suppliers, from its own filing
Vodafone Ltd reports paying its suppliers in an average of 59 days, with 2% of invoices paid later than the agreed terms, for the period 1 October 2025 to 30 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.
59 days
Average days to pay
longer than 93% of the 1,496 filers; median 31 days
2%
Paid later than agreed
a higher share than 9% of filers; median 14%
29%
Paid within 30 days
29% took longer than 60 days
The terms it declares
- Standard payment terms
- 30 to 115 days
- Maximum contractual period
- 186 days
- Paid in 31 to 60 days
- 42%
- Paid after 60 days
- 29%
- Not paid because of a dispute
- 0%
- Filed on
- 28 April 2026
Their standard terms, in their words
The percentages provided in the payment statistics above include payments made to Vodafone Group entities providing goods or services to Vodafone Limited. Vodafone intercompany payment terms include many transactions with payment terms up to 115 days. These payments are included in our reported statistics as required and this therefore impacts the payment statistics. If intercompany payments are excluded from the statistics, they are as follows: Average time to pay in days – 44 days Split of payments made under qualifying contracts in the reporting period: A) Percentage of invoices pa…
Their explanation
Vodafone Limited were signatories to the Prompt Payment Code until Dec 24 when it was withdrawn but remain committed to adhering to fair payment principles and have submitted an expression of interest to join its replacement, the Fair Payment Code. The majority of our invoices are received via eInvoicing which also improves our ability to pay them on time. Vodafone Limited continue to ensure that suppliers identified as small in accordance with the Companies Act, are changed to payment terms of 30 days from receipt of invoice where previous longer terms applied.
Every filing since Sep 2018
Vodafone Ltd has filed 16 times. The share paid late is unchanged on the previous filing, and the average days to pay down 3 days. The first filing, for the period to 30 September 2018, reported 64 days and 6% late.
| Period to | Days to pay | Paid late | Within 30 days | Over 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 March 2026 | 59 | 2% | 29% | 29% |
| 30 September 2025 | 62 | 2% | 27% | 37% |
| 31 March 2025 | 61 | 2% | 25% | 36% |
| 30 September 2024 | 64 | 2% | 25% | 43% |
| 31 March 2024 | 58 | 2% | 30% | 34% |
| 30 September 2023 | 68 | 2% | 22% | 45% |
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
- Timescales of releasing the retention sums are dependent on the timeframe of the handover versus the period remaining in the financial year.
- On parity with their client
- Vodafone is the client and does not have any contractual obligations imposed on it for the delivery of construction works.
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. Vodafone 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, 29 days after the final date, carries £93.36 of statutory interest at 11.75% plus the fixed sum, £193.36 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. Vodafone Ltd is slower than the sector figure. 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 Vodafone Ltd
- How long does Vodafone Ltd take to pay its suppliers?
- Vodafone Ltd reported an average of 59 days to pay an invoice for 1 October 2025 to 30 March 2026, with 29% of invoices paid within 30 days and 29% taking longer than 60 days. The official 2025 figure for large construction businesses is 33 days.
- Does Vodafone Ltd pay late?
- By its own filing, 2% of Vodafone 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 (2% for the period to 30 September 2025).
- Does Vodafone Ltd hold retention?
- Yes. Vodafone Ltd 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 Vodafone 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 111029, 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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- 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.