GOV.UK
MARKS AND SPENCER P.L.C.
Company number: 00214436
Reporting period:
3 April 2022
to 1 October 2022
This report was filed on 1 November 2022
and approved by Eoin Tonge
Payment statistics
Average time taken to pay invoices: 35 days
Invoices paid:
- within 30 days: 61%
- in 31 to 60 days: 26%
- in 61 days or more: 13%
Invoices due but not paid within agreed terms: 1 %
Payment terms
Shortest standard payment period
19 days
Longest standard payment period
90 days
Standard payment terms
M&S standard payment terms are:
• Food vendors: 19 days.
• Clothing & Home vendors: 90 days.
• Goods Not for Resale vendors: 75 days.
Payments that fall due on a weekend or bank holiday are paid and cleared by the prior working day.
In certain circumstances, M&S may agree to shorter payment terms with suppliers as part of an overall commercial agreement.
Were there any changes to the standard payment terms in the reporting period?
Yes –
• For C&H vendors, standard payment terms have been reduced to 90 days from 120 days for any new purchase orders raised after March 2022.
• For GNFR vendors, standard payments terms have been increased from 60 days to 75 days. This change will only take effect when the vendor’s current contract renewed.
UK Suppliers considered to be small (where annual spend is under £1m) were unaffected by these changes and remain on terms of 60 days or less. During the previous reporting period, Food vendors that have annual spend of under £4m had their terms changed to 7 days (Food vendors remain on standard terms of 19 days). Small vendors also have access to vendor financing schemes.
Were suppliers notified or consulted about these changes before they were made?
Yes – All suppliers were informed of these changes in writing.
Maximum contractual payment period agreed
90 days
Any other information about payment terms
• M&S offer a Supply Chain Finance solution that enables suppliers to obtain funds in advance of agreed payment terms.
• M&S are entitled to offset any of a supplier’s invoices against any amounts owing to M&S by the supplier.
Dispute resolution process
• Specialist vendor help desks are available to manage all vendor queries. This includes Goods Receipt, PO, EDI, Invoicing and Payment queries.
• The query support teams offer suppliers the benefit of having a central contact available to help resolve their issue:
o The teams are the single point of contact for all delivery, invoice and payment queries.
o They track queries and seek to resolve queries.
• A supplier portal is available for Food and Goods Not for Resale suppliers to view the payment status of invoices.
• For food vendors, we now have the “One Food Platform” which enables suppliers to update their business contact details; enable purchase order amendments; use a stock movement tool and also to access the supplier portal.
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.Yes – 1. Prompt Payment Code; and 2. The Groceries Supply Code of Practice
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.
Yes
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.
Yes
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