Barratt hit by pay delay claims

Suppliers working for housebuilder Barratt claim they will not be paid some bills this month, according to the Daily Mail newspaper today.

The newspaper claims that the firm is trying to put a positive spin on its forthcoming full-year figures. However Barratt strongly denies this.

One supplier told the newspaper that it had been recently informed by Barratt that it would not be settling any bills this month - the last month of its financial year.

A company source told the newspaper that it was ‘standard practice’ to push back on costs when times are hard.

However a Barratt spokesman told CJ: “There is no group policy to defer payments either to suppliers or subcontractors beyond the normal timeframe.”

But the newspaper argued that individual divisional offices have flexibility about how they manage their accounts.

The paper also reports on talks that the firm needs £1bn of rescue funding, and risks breaching banking covenants with lenders of its £1.7bn of debts.