Carlsberg makes suppliers wait longer for pay

Carlsberg has been slammed by an organisation representing small businesses for extending its payment terms to 95 days, counting from the end of the month in which the invoice is sent out.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) argued that such practices were “wholly unacceptable”, and that Carlsberg’s payment terms were “the longest the FPB has ever been made aware of”

Late payment practices cause serious cash flow problems for many smaller firms and mean that small businesses are effectively providing free credit to the larger companies they supply, said the FPB.

“Carlsberg’s incredible terms mean that many of its suppliers could be waiting more than four months for payment,” said the FPB’s policy representative Matt Goodman. “That is a long time by anyone’s standards … This is clearly highly unfair to businesses lower down the supply chain, which are effectively providing interest-free credit to this multinational company.”

Carlsberg UK’s customer marketing director David Scott told the FPB: “Carlsberg UK has recently implemented a policy to extend payment terms to 95 days across all of its suppliers.

“All suppliers’ situations are reviewed in light of this extension, and if there is a business case made as to why these payment terms are not acceptable, we will then work with our suppliers to reach terms that are agreeable to both parties.”