Sainsbury’s criticised over increased payment times for suppliers
Sainsbury’s has been criticised by the Forum of Private Business for increasing payment times for non-food suppliers.
According to the FPB, the supermarket wrote to suppliers last month to inform them that it was extending all non-food supplier payment times from 30 to 75 days following a review in which it found its standard 30-day payment times differed from industry standards.
FPB policy adviser Robert Downes said: “Sainsbury’s might like to promote themselves as the ethical supermarket, but when it comes to their treatment of suppliers they are anything but.
“No right-thinking person could justify what Sainsbury’s is proposing – a 150% increase in the time it takes them to pay a supplier for goods provided – as being fair and decent. With startling arrogance they have then tried to justify this increase by claiming 75 days is the industry standard. This is utter fabrication.”
Never Miss a Retail Update!The Forum has now written to ask that Sainsbury’s signs up to the Government’s Prompt Payment Code where subscribers pledge to pay suppliers on time, and not to change terms and conditions mid-way through a contract.
Downes added: “We are hoping the Groceries Code Adjudicator, when it does eventually comes into being, will maybe deter supermarkets from acting like this – certainly for food suppliers – behaviour that we think is likely contrary to the Grocery Supply Code of Practice.”
