Specialist contractors are facing longer waits before receiving payment for work that has been carried out.

The latest State of Trade report from the National Specialist Contractors’ Council (NSCC) indicated that 21 per cent of workers had reported periods were they had to wait 60-90 days for payment. This is a sharp rise from 5 per cent in the last quarter.

Suzannah Nichol, Chief Executive of NSCC, said: “Our State of Trade survey highlights the problems faced by specialist contractors and provides evidence that payment periods within the industry are lengthening. The OGC Fair Payment Charter is due to be implemented in full from 1 January 2008 and will require 30 day payment periods. NSCC fully endorses the Charter and, through its own Fair Payment Campaign, is calling for 30-day payment periods to be implemented on all contracts.”


The number of firms reporting difficulties in recruiting skilled labour has fallen from 26% to 17%; however, this remains comparable with the position this time last year.

With one in five specialist contractors unable to bid for work due to skills shortages, this problem, particularly in relation to professional and technical staff, persists.

A full copy of the Q3 NSCC State of Trade report can be downloaded from www.nscc.org.uk.

(NS)