Administered by the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), signatories to the Code pledge to uphold its best practice for payment standards to end the culture of late payment and to pay 95% of all supplier invoices within 60 days.

Alongside the other suspended businesses, Aberdeen Asset Management is engaging with the CICM and has already submitted action plans towards achieving compliance, proving the effectiveness of the PPC in positively changing payment behaviours.

The Prompt Payment Code’s Compliance Board, chaired by CICM chief executive Philip King, regularly reviews the status of organisations to ensure they are upholding their commitments.

Mr King said: “We will continue to challenge signatories to the code if the obligatory Payment Practice Reporting data suggests that their practices are not compliant. We are encouraged by those who have already submitted action plans to achieve future compliance, and we are working closely with those businesses to support a better payment culture.”

Nine companies have also been reinstated to the Code having demonstrated compliance for at least the last two consecutive months. Of the 35 signatories suspended in April and July, 11 have now been reinstated.

Kelly Tolhurst, UK small businesses minister, added: “The vast majority of businesses pay their bills on time and it’s encouraging to see some companies engaging with improved payment practices, allowing them to be reinstated on the code. However, more needs to be done, and today’s action shows we are not afraid to crack down on those who do not pay suppliers on time.”

The 20 suspended companies are:

• Aberdeen Asset Management PLC
• Anglo American Services (UK) Ltd
• AstraZeneca
• Diageo Scotland Limited
• Diageo Global Supply IBC Limited
• Diageo Northern Ireland Ltd
• Diageo Great Britain Ltd
• Eurovia Infrastructure Limited
• GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (UK) Trading Limited
• GlaxoSmithKline UK Limited
• IBM United Kingdom Ltd
• Kier Integrated Services Limited
• Kier Infrastructure and Overseas Limited
• Kier Construction Limited
• Kier Highways Limited
• McNicholas Construction Services Limited
• Seddon Construction Ltd
• Smith & Nephew UK Limited
• J. Smith and Nephew, Limited
• Unilever UK Ltd

The nine reinstated companies are:

• Alun Griffiths
• BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Limited
• Centrica
• Costain Limited
• Kellogg Brown & Root Limited
• Interserve Construction
• Maintenance Management Ltd
• Severfield (Design & Build) Limited
• Stantec UK Ltd