Hachette UK Limited payment practices report
PennyFetch rating based on government data:
Often outside termsCompanies House no. 02020173
This rating is PennyFetch’s own assessment derived from data self-reported by Hachette UK Limited to the UK government.
Avg. days to pay
35
UK median: 32
Outside agreed terms
39%
UK average: 24%
Trend
Getting slower
16 reports filed
Payment terms
30 to 90 days
Standard terms
Invoice payment breakdown
How Hachette UK Limited compares
Hachette UK Limited takes an average of 35 days to pay its suppliers, which is 3 days slower than the UK median of 32 days across 9,336 reporting companies. 39% of their invoices fall outside the agreed payment terms, compared to a national average of 24%. Their payment speed has been getting worse over time based on historical filings.
The “outside agreed terms” percentage measures how often the company pays after its own agreed payment terms (30 to 90 days), not against a fixed 30-day standard. A company with long payment terms can still be rated “Good payer” if it consistently meets those terms.
Payment history
| Period | Avg. days | % outside terms | % in 30d | % over 60d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2025 to Dec 2025 | 35 | 39% | 90% | 6% |
| Jan 2025 to Jun 2025 | 32 | 35% | 71% | 6% |
| Jul 2024 to Dec 2024 | 30 | 36% | 69% | 6% |
| Jan 2024 to Jun 2024 | 36 | 45% | 64% | 9% |
| Jul 2023 to Dec 2023 | 35 | 35% | 74% | 9% |
| Jan 2023 to Jun 2023 | 38 | 37% | 71% | 11% |
| Jul 2022 to Dec 2022 | 40 | 34% | 73% | 11% |
| Jan 2022 to Jun 2022 | 44 | 45% | 66% | 16% |
| Jul 2021 to Dec 2021 | 38 | 45% | 67% | 13% |
| Jan 2021 to Jun 2021 | 34 | 39% | 71% | 9% |
| Jul 2020 to Dec 2020 | 39 | 37% | 69% | 13% |
| Jan 2020 to Jun 2020 | 38 | 46% | 65% | 15% |
| Jul 2019 to Dec 2019 | 32 | 47% | 87% | 6% |
| Jan 2019 to Jun 2019 | 31 | 42% | 70% | 10% |
| Jul 2018 to Dec 2018 | 31 | 42% | 73% | 9% |
| Jan 2018 to Jun 2018 | 29 | 32% | 75% | 6% |
PennyFetch sends automatic payment reminders so you don’t have to chase. If they still don’t pay, it calculates statutory interest and generates a Letter Before Action as a PDF.
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All payment statistics on this page are self-reported by Hachette UK Limited to the UK Government Payment Practices Reporting service . The government publishes this data but does not independently verify the figures. Published under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Most recent report filed: Jan 2026. The rating labels on this page (e.g. “Good payer”, “Often outside terms”) are PennyFetch’s own classifications based on the reported data. They are not government ratings. This page is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal or financial advice.
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