Holloway pays within 26 days

Holloway White Allom's (HWA) track record of paying its subcontractors and suppliers in 26 days, on average, puts much of the construction industry to shame.
Managing director Bob Cole said: "We want to treat them fairly. They get paid quickly for what they do as their work is good. We depend heavily on working with the best, so we have formed various strategic alliances.
"Each of our senior management team is allocated to the specialists in a particular sector to ensure that we have strong personal links."
HWA's first annual results since the management buy-out from John Laing, led by Cole, show a surge in turnover to £45m in the 12 months to 31 December 2003, compared with £34m in the previous year.
Pre-tax profit climbed to £2.3m, up from £1.8m in 2002, as margins held at 4%-plus. "In our marketplace we look to that sort of figure, which is rather better than in general contracting. Our niche sectors are country homes, historic houses and the top of the residential market," Cole said.
Cole is preparing to take the group into new areas of work, including maintenance, smaller projects (£500,000 upwards) and the decorating element of fit-out.
Headhunters have been hired to track down a top manager and senior team for the new maintenance business that will be "up and running within a few months", according to Cole.