Cash flow can often be very tight in small companies, especially during tough economic times, and being paid on time, whilst being given the opportunity to be a supplier to a reliable customer such as Here is valuable. 

Established in December 2008 by the UK government as a response to calls from companies for changes in payment culture, the PPC is a voluntary code of practice for businesses designed to speed up cash flow in UK industry.

We see our suppliers as a natural extension of how we work and therefore we have a responsibility to treat them as we would like to be treated.

The ethos of the code:

1. Pay suppliers on time, within agreed terms.
2. Give clear guidance to suppliers on terms, dispute resolution and prompt notification of late payment.
3. Support good practice throughout their supply chain by encouraging adoption of the Code.

As of July 1st, 2021, complying with the reformed Prompt Payment Code requires: 

Being a social enterprise, Here has always tried to prioritise working with small and local businesses in Brighton and Hove and has always been a prompt and fair payer.

In the first half of financial year 2023-24, 68.3% of our suppliers were Sussex based with 59.9% located in Brighton and Hove. 

Now that we are a large company, we need to report every six months on our payment practices and publish this on our website, which we have proudly done for the first time this October.

Prompt Payment Code

When we found out about the Prompt Payment Code which was created to protect small businesses, it was a natural and easy commitment for us to sign up to this voluntary code and formalise our treatment of small businesses. 

In doing the work, we also realised that we could improve our treatment of small and larger suppliers further. Firstly, we wanted to be really transparent about how suppliers are paid, and published a “How do I get paid?” guide for suppliers on our website.

We are also going to send an abridged version of this with a link to this guide as an autoreply on all invoices that are submitted electronically to our dedicated invoice submission email address.

Over the next year we plan to review all of our suppliers as part of a supplier audit to identify those suppliers with less than 50 employees who qualify as small.

At the same time, we also want to ensure that we are working with suppliers who are modern-slavery-aware in the way that they work.

We will also look at whether they are working in an environmentally sustainable way, and whether there are any ways that they can work with us to provide more accurate carbon calculation reporting on our purchases.

Interesting in working with us?

Contact: lesley.jay@nhs.net

Lesley Jay, Finance Director

I work to ensure safe stewardship of the company’s financial resources so that we are appropriately resourced to help the communities we serve.