ASSET EDUCATION
Company number: 09434926
Reporting period:
1 September 2025 to 28 February 2026
Report filed on:
7 March 2026
Approved by:
Barry Gostling
Contracts and payments
Do any of this business's construction contracts with its suppliers include retention clauses? Yes
Payment statistics
Average time taken to pay invoices: 18 days
Total value paid:
- within 30 days: £2,206,525 (95%)
- in 31 to 60 days: £100,237 (4%)
- in 61 days or more: £23,645 (1%)
Invoices paid:
- within 30 days: 94%
- in 31 to 60 days: 5%
- in 61 days or more: 1%
Late and disputed:
- total value of payments due in the reporting period which have not been paid within the agreed period: £750,389
- payments due in the reporting period which have not been paid within the agreed period: 23%
- not made in the reporting period due to a dispute: 0%
Payment terms
Shortest standard payment periods
0 days
Longest standard payment period
30 days
Standard payment terms
ASSET Education aims to pay all suppliers in accordance with their payment terms and conditions unless there are queries on the invoice.
Were there any changes to the standard payment terms in the reporting period?
No
Were suppliers notified or consulted about these changes before they were made?
N/A
Maximum contractual payment period agreed
30 days
No further comment provided
Any other information about payment terms
It is pleasing to see an improvement in our overall invoices paid within 30 days with almost 94% now hitting this metric. This has in turn brought our average days to pay down to 17.78. This has been a combined result of our teams working hard to reduce the days to pay invoices down but also due to a drive to move a higher percentage of our invoices onto Direct Debit payments which ensures payment within agreed terms. We have also seen an increase in the total amount of invoices compared to last period, most prominently due to taking catering in-house which has led to several additional food invoices. It is pleasing taht despite adding over 500 more invoices to our procesisng, we have been able to improve our overall payment times.
Although our % of invoice paid after agreed terms has reduced (down to 22.92% from 30.94%) this is still higher than we would like and we will continue to attempt to drive this down. As with previous reports, we have found that a root cause of this has been shorter supplier terms (39% of those late were 7 day terms or less which are easy to slip when we have a weekly BACS run) and invoices arriving late into our offices (23% of invoices paid late arrived in our offices after their due date).
Retention clauses
How does this business use retention clauses?
Retention clauses are used in specific circumstances:
This will be for larger projects only and agreed as part of the initial tender
Does this business only use retention clauses in construction contracts above a specific contract sum?
No
Does this business use a standard percentage rate in retention clauses?
No
Does this business apply retention clause practices that are no more onerous than those applied to it on the same project?
No
Releasing money under a retention clause
Process for releasing money this business has deducted or retained under a retention clause
This is invoiced and paid at the end of the project after work has been completed and after an agreed number of months. This only happens when agreed in conjunction with a consultant
Is the money released in stages?
No
Amount retained from suppliers in the reporting period
Amount retained stated as a percentage of the money retained from this business by its clients
0%
Amount retained stated as a percentage of the total construction payments made by this business
0%
Dispute resolution process
Escalate to central finance team who would take up query with management of supplier.
Other payment information
Has this business signed up to a code of conduct or standards on payment practices? If so, which?
For example, signatories to The Fair Payment Code must commit to paying 95% of their invoices within 60 days.
No, this business has not signed up to a code of conduct or standards on payment practices.
Does this business offer e-invoicing in relation to qualifying contracts?
This is where suppliers can electronically submit and track invoices. It's not just allowing suppliers to email them an invoice.
No
Does this business offer supply chain finance?
This is where a supplier who has submitted an invoice can be paid by a third-party finance provider earlier than the agreed payment date. The business would then pay the finance provider the invoiced sum.
No
Under its payment practices and policies, can this business deduct sums from payments under qualifying contracts as a charge for remaining on a supplier list?
No
During the reporting period, did the business deduct sums from payments as a charge for remaining on a supplier list?
No