This is a new service. Help us improve it and give your feedback (opens in new tab) .

SPECIALIST HOLIDAYS (TRAVEL) LIMITED

Company number: 00446617

Reporting period:
1 April 2019 to 30 September 2019


This information is as reported by the business, and responses are in their own words.

This report was filed on 6 November 2019

and approved by JAIME EVANS

Payment statistics

Average time taken to pay invoices: 50 days

Invoices paid:

  • within 30 days: 33%
  • in 31 to 60 days: 53%
  • in 61 days or more: 14%

Invoices due but not paid within agreed terms: 36%

Payment terms

Shortest standard payment periods

30 days

Longest standard payment period

60 days

Standard payment terms

Specialist Holidays (Travel) Limited standard payment terms are 30 days from receipt of invoice on normal qualifying contracts unless specifically agreed or net monthly from the date of invoice. We have several suppliers who offer differing payment terms and we do our best to accommodate these. Creditors send invoices throughout the month, with 99% being received by email. The business handles invoices through OCR and workflow technology with a high proportion of invoices being automatically matched to purchase orders. The creditors are paid twice monthly. The payment runs are produced twice per month paying invoices approved and due up to the payment date. This results in suppliers being paid for invoices both on and after 30 days. For the purpose of this report we have used 45 days as the average number of days for net monthly payments. (Invoices in month 1 paid by end of month 2).

Were there any changes to the standard payment terms in the reporting period?

Answer not provided

Were suppliers notified or consulted about these changes before they were made?

N/A

Maximum contractual payment period agreed

60 days

No further comment provided

Any other information about payment terms

The information provided covers 950 suppliers used in the reporting period and 38k invoices were processed from Apr to Sept 2019. As a travel company most of our suppliers are not UK organisations and are paid in multiple currencies. All our suppliers are paid electronically by SEPA (suppliers in Europe) or by bank transfer. As a business we provide pre-payments & deposits to several suppliers. This can negatively distort the % paid as balancing payments may not be made until the end of the season when the account is fully reconciled. Several suppliers also do not provide invoices on customer checkout and provide monthly or season end statements, this results in invoices being allocated or matched to payments at the end of season in September and October. We operate a 3 way purchase order matching and approval process.

Dispute resolution process

The Company is committed to dealing with its suppliers in a fair, honest and professional manner and as close to contractual terms as we possibly can. We do our utmost to resolve queries quickly and to everyone’s satisfaction. It is important to us that there is no negative impact on our customers experience and our supplier relationships are essential in delivering the first class services our customers expect. A close working relationship and good payment performance is paramount in our business. Suppliers generally email their invoices to dedicated email addresses where they are scanned by our OCR system for processing and matching to the purchase orders. All our suppliers have a personal point of contact with the Accounts Payable Department and either email or telephone the team member to discuss payment concerns. The Accounts Payable Executives and Team Leaders will work closely with the supplier and our departments to understand why an invoice is not approved or not yet paid. Every effort is made to ensure the invoice is included in the next payment run or if necessary a payment is requested. If a cost of sale invoice is received and exceeds the expected cost based on contract rates for the holiday component cost, a deduction advice is raised and sent by email before the invoice is paid. If the supplier disagrees with the calculation this will be investigated and resolved before the invoice is paid. If we have calculated the rate incorrectly the deduction advice will be reversed and if the supplier is incorrect they will issue a credit note against their invoice to offset the deduction advice

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 Prompt 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