U.K. Regulator Drops Big Companies From Responsible-Payment List
- Vodafone, BHP, Rolls-Royce criticized by industry body
- Companies could be barred from state contracts later in 2019
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
Some of the U.K.’s biggest companies were dropped from the government’s list of responsible small-business customers on Monday, a decision that could undermine their ability to win state contracts.
Five firms were removed from the Prompt Payment Code, an initiative to speed up settlement of invoices owed to suppliers. The companies -- including mining conglomerate BHP Group Plc, DHL Worldwide Express and GKN Ltd -- were removed “for non-compliance and not providing a plan for how they will meet the terms,” according to a statement from the Chartered Institute of Credit Management, which administers the Code for the government.