The survey of 506 companies found that 75% of construction companies are owed payment beyond the period outlined in their terms and conditions. The survey found only the manufacturing sector was hit worse.

The report concluded that British businesses are owed £128bn in late payments. Two-thirds of UK companies owed an average of £28,000 each in late payments.

A spokesman for Creditsafe told B&E: “There are lots of one man bands in the construction industry, which presents difficulties when tracking history of credit. Cash flow also presents a problem because the industry is very much job to job, so lots of companies are awaiting payment from their last job before they can move on to a new one. A further issue is that some of companies do not have standardised contracts as such which invariably leads to issues over payment.”