Dogsbody Technology are proud to be leading the way as one of the first 100 companies in the UK to achieve the Fair Payment Code Silver Award for the high standard of our payment practices.

Fair Payment Code Silver Award

The Silver Award is awarded to those paying at least 95% of all invoices within 60 days, including at least 95% of invoices to small businesses within 30 days.

(In all honesty we pay all our invoices well within the 30 days however the gold award required us to have certain types of contracts with our suppliers that we just don’t have.)

We think this is a brilliant initiative, especially for small businesses like ourselves where cash flow is one of the most important aspects of keeping a company going. Supporting strategies like this are a core principle of our company ethos.

What is the Fair Payment Code?

The Fair Payment Code is a Government-backed range of Awards that reward businesses for adopting fair payment practices for their suppliers, particularly with small (under 50 employees) suppliers in mind. It is hoping to support businesses to improve their payment practices.

The Fair Payment Code Awards are open to any, non public sector, business and organisations of any size as long as they can provide evidence that they are meeting the Code’s requirements and complying with its principles. The only criteria is that you must have a a UK registered office.

Fair Payment Code Awards are for two years, and every business will need to reapply for their award at the end of each two-year period. Applications are open from September-December each year and are awarded for the following two calendar years.

The Fair Payment Code Principles

Be Clear

• Establish clear and fair payment terms, ensuring their suppliers understand the payment terms laid out in their contracts.
• Agree payment terms with suppliers and put them in writing, before work begins, presented in clear unamended plain English contracts.
• Ensure they communicate promptly with suppliers where payment may be delayed or outside of agreed terms.

Be Fair

• Always endeavour to pay suppliers a) within the terms of the Code and b) in a reasonable, mutually negotiated and agreed timeframe, avoiding delays wherever possible.
• Where delayed payment of invoices causes damage to a supplier’s business, signatories will accept consequences such as automatically applied late payment interest and compensation as detailed in
• The Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act 1998.
• Aim to avoid disputes and where these can’t be avoided pay undisputed portions of invoices within terms and resolve the disputed portions within the agreed timeframe.

Be Collaborative

• Proactively work to avoid conflict and to facilitate early resolution of potential disputes.
• Recognise the importance of embedding conflict avoidance mechanisms in contract management and projects.
• Work to share best practice, encourage, and promote fair payment across your industry or more generally.

We encourage more businesses to sign up and help small businesses grow.