LONDON: Late payment has worsened in the construction industry – bucking the national trend.

Construction firms paid their late bills an average of 20.61 days after they were due in December 2009, according to a report by Experian released today.

This was 4.5% later than in December 2008, meaning companies in the sector were waiting roughly an extra day for late bills to be settled.

Average late payment time across all sectors came down by 11% to 20.88 days. Industry-wide, London businesses maintained their position as the worst payers during 2009, paying their late bills an average of 26.95 days beyond deadline.

Businesses with 26 to 50 employees continued to be the ones that paid their late bills the quickest - after an average of 18.94 days.

Construction's poor performance came despite calls from sub-contractors for prompt payment during the recession.

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