Payment practices and performance
Thales UK Limited (“Thales UK”) is a signatory to the Prompt Payment Code (“the Code”) administered by the Institute for Credit management on behalf of the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Thales UK has adopted the principles of the Code, which are followed by its procurement and accounting staff and communicated to, and endorsed by, it’s other members of staff.
1. Pay Suppliers on time: within the terms agreed at the outset of the contract
- without attempting to change payment terms retrospectively
- without changing practice on length of payment for smaller companies on unreasonable ground
2. Give clear guidance to suppliers
- providing suppliers with clear and easily accessible guidance on payment procedures
- ensuring there is a system for dealing with complaints and disputes which is communicated to suppliers
- advising them promptly if there is any reason why an invoice will not be paid to the agreed terms
3. Encourage good practice
- by requesting that lead suppliers encourage adoption of the code throughout their own supply chains
Additionally all signatories undertake to pay suppliers within a maximum of 60 days (in line with late payment legislation requirements), to work towards adopting 30 days as the norm, and to avoid any practices that adversely affect the supply chain.
Payment metrics
For the 1st Half period January – June 2023
| Metric |
Current Period |
Previous Period (Jul – Dec 2022) |
|---|---|---|
| Proportion of invoices not paid within agreed terms (volume by percentage) | 18% | 21% |
| Average time (by number) taken to pay invoices from the date of receipt in days | 41 days | 33 days |
| Proportion of invoices paid within 1 to 30 days of receipt of invoice (volume by percentage) | 88% | 83% |
| Proportion of invoices paid within 31 to 60 days of receipt of invoice (volume by percentage) | 92% | 93% |
| Proportion of invoices paid after 60 days of receipt of invoice (volume by percentage) | 8% | 7% |
| Amount of interest due to late invoice payment paid in period | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| Amount of interest liable to pay (not yet paid) at the end of this reporting period | £0.00 | £0.00 |
Notes
Under the Duty to Report on Payment Practices and Performance obligations, companies will be reported separately as determined by Companies House registration.
Thales is committed to pay suppliers in accordance with the terms of their contract with them which is standard payment terms month of invoice plus 30 days from receipt of a valid invoice. There are negotiated variants.
For invoices not paid with agreed terms (currently 18%), Thales has a payment improvement plan in place that is agreed and reviewed regularly with the SPP (Strategic Partnership Programme) & the Crown Representative & Thales UK CFO.
A UK P2P (procure to pay) project has been established which is working on improving the Prompt Payment & Duty to Report metrics & is reviewing the end to end P2P process. It is being run as a cross-functional team with finance, procurement, industry & quality participants. It is an evolving project with the key focus’s being reviewing process, eliminating waste, retraining users, and educating users on the importance of receipting on time.
Payment Procedures
For an invoice to be accepted, it must include:
- Supplier invoice number
- Supplier invoice or Tax date
- Supplier Name & Address
- Net VAT and Gross totals
- Supplier VAT number (where applicable)
- Valid/current Thales Purchase Order Number, Line Number and Shipment Number
- Description of the goods/service
- Billed to the respective Thales company named on the relevant purchase order
Note: If a new supplier to Thales, it is important that you submit your bank details on letter headed paper to allow for fraud verification.
Invoices that do not include the above information will be rejected back to the supplier for correction.
Invoice Rejection
Invoices shall be rejected for the following reasons:
- No Thales purchase order number
- Invalid purchase order
- No freight or carriage line on the purchase order
- Purchase order closed or cancelled
- Currency mismatch between invoice and purchase order
- No relevant invoice line on purchase order
- Insufficient funds on purchase order
Please note that you must contact the Buyer named on the purchase order to resolve any issues before re-submitting your invoice back to Thales Payables for processing.
We do not accept or request any payments in regards to being accepted onto or remaining on our Preferred Supplier lists.
It is the suppliers’ responsibility to provide correct bank details and email addresses to Thales UK to facilitate payment. Any changes to address or bank details must be notified to Thales UK no less than 4 weeks before they take effect.
Payment Methods
We process supplier payments throughout each month and pay our suppliers using BACS (Bank Automated Clearing System), CHAPS (Clearing House Automated Payment System), Faster Payments or Direct Debit only. Thales UK is not responsible for any delays in payments being made which are outside of our control (e.g. where our Banking Provider suffers from technical failures or otherwise delays the processing of such payments).
Remittance advice notes are emailed to the supplier once the payment has been processed.
Payment Disputes
Thales UK will endeavour to advise suppliers promptly of any disputes or reasons why an invoice will not be paid to the agreed terms. Invoices that are subject to dispute will not be paid until resolution of the dispute. Once resolved, payment will be made in accordance with the terms of the contract, this document and the Code.
Complaints
Complaints in relation to the processing of payments and/or invoices should be emailed to the Buyer named on the Purchase Order.
Information for Suppliers
Thales UK encourages all of its suppliers to become signatories to and adhere to the terms of the Code. Details of which can be found here.
Under the new mandatory UK Government Duty to Report on Payment Practices and Performance regulation, Thales has published its data accordingly in Companies House.
Contact Details
For Thales UK:
T: Payments: 01635 736 280
E: SASPayables@uk.thalesgroup.com
T: Procurement: Ray Bailey +44 (0) 7855 958494
E: Procurement: Ray Bailey ray.bailey@uk.thalesgroup.com