In 2012, Unilever was proud to be one of the first companies to sign up to the UK Government’s voluntary Prompt Payment Code (PPC). We’re disappointed to have been removed, given that our payment terms have not changed in any way and it is the PPC criteria that has changed since we joined.
At Unilever, we are committed to paying all of our suppliers fairly and on time. We believe we do still fully honour the spirit of the PPC and our most recently reported figures confirm we have paid more than 98% of all our invoices on time, including prioritising our SME suppliers who are paid within 30 days.
The Prompt Payment Code requires companies to achieve payment of at least 95% of invoices within 60 days. For some of our bigger suppliers we have longer payment terms which are mutually agreed upfront by both parties, and in our recent reported figures our average is 64 days. Previously consideration was given that Unilever prioritised its SME suppliers with payment terms of 30 days but this consideration was removed.
Whilst we are disappointed with this outcome, our focus at Unilever will continue to be paying all our suppliers on time and prioritising our SME suppliers, and this will not change.