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Tuesday, June 02, 2026
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Real estate, hospitality and ICT are the UK sectors hardest hit by late payment, according to the Sidetrade tracker

A clear picture of the impact of the Covid-19 crisis per business sector

A first of its kind, the Sidetrade tracker analyses the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on twelve business sectors. As of 25 May, the UK sectors hardest hit by payment delays tied to the crisis are:

  • Finance, Insurance, Real Estate: 76% of invoices over 10 days overdue
  • ICT (Information, Communication, Technology): 60% of invoices over 10 days overdue
  • Leisure, Hospitality: 55% of invoices over 10 days overdue

Note that Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, as well as ICT are areas where late payment rate was already high prior to the pandemic: 56% and 53% respectively.

Sectors least impacted by the crisis include Food industry (19% invoices over 10 days overdue), retail (22%) and manufacturing (23%).

For the latest trends per industry, visit https://invoice-tracker.sidetrade.com.

Hard hit by the crisis, the UK seems to be seeing the first effects of lockdown exit

Evidence from the Sidetrade tracker shows a strong correlation between payment behaviour and economic activity. The latest tracker release was highly awaited this week to see the effect of exit from lockdown. With 38% unpaid invoices as of 25 May 2020, the UK has seen a slight improvement in customer-supplier relations. This is the first positive effect of lockdown exit.

Nonetheless, the unpaid rate remains extremely high, representing a threat for many businesses. Late payment deterioration in the UK rose +26%.

For the first time, all six countries tracked showed a significant improvement, even though the unpaid rate is still high. The UK has the highest rate (39% unpaid), whereas the Netherlands can boast the lowest figure: 18% unpaid, not far from their pre-pandemic rate of 15%.

The Sidetrade tracker is a trusted reference for payment behaviour trends. In the coming weeks, it will be a crucial to analyze the reality of the economic upturn in Europe.

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