Sidetrade Tracker: UK B2B Unpaid Invoices Up 23% Amid Pandemic

Sidetrade, an AI platform for B2B transactions, has launched a new weekly tracker to monitor trends in unpaid business-to-business invoices. The tool analyzes 26 million invoices, representing €54 billion in transactions, and tracks the payment behavior of over 3.7 million companies across six European countries.

The latest figures indicate a 23% increase in unpaid B2B invoices in the UK after mid-March 2020, correlating with the intensification of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures. This surge reflects a broader European trend where payment delays and insolvencies have significantly escalated due to the pandemic and the resulting economic crisis.

Analysis by Sidetrade's data scientists shows that the rate of unpaid invoices remained relatively stable at around 20% in the period leading up to March 11, 2020. However, following this date, payment delays saw dramatic increases, with Spain experiencing a 52% rise and Italy an 80% jump.

Protracted B2B payment delays have been an ongoing economic challenge, exacerbated by the pandemic. Inter-company credit is a critical factor in the economy, and many businesses, particularly SMEs, face increased insolvency risk due to cash flow problems. Reports suggest that up to a fifth of UK SMEs could collapse due to a lack of cash.

The Sidetrade tracker aims to provide objective data on business payment behavior and underscore the importance of timely payments to mitigate the economic fallout. The information is freely accessible to decision-makers and public authorities.