// Tradewind now pays Peacocks suppliers within 7-10 days with 2.25% fee
// Retailer gets more time to pay Tradwind
// Peacocks refutes claims deal was made due to market conditions
Peacocks has updated its payment terms for suppliers so as to allow them the opportunity to be paid within a fortnight at a fairly low fee.
The value retailer, which operates 500 stores around the UK, has penned a deal with trade finance company Tradewind for supplier payments in a bid to unify terms and simplify then process.
As part of the agreement, all payments are processed by Tradewind, which will pay suppliers within seven to 10 days and charge a 2.25 per cent levy on each invoice.
The new deal also means Peacocks has more time to pay for shipments, increasing the maximum time it takes to pay from 90 to 130 days.
The retailer said 75 per cent of its suppliers already used Tradewind or a similar finance service.
Most of these suppliers are on various different standard terms from 90 days upwards, and the vast majority of these suppliers are paid in seven to 10 days – but with a higher levy.
A spokesman for the retailer refuted claims made in the press recently that the new deal was done because of poor financial health or because of “market conditions”.
He stressed that Peacocks had spotted an opportunity to pay all suppliers sooner, and to streamline and simplify processes “on advantageous terms” following an offer from Tradewind.
“Our relationships with our suppliers are fundamental to the business and we always seek to provide our partners with quick and simple payment,” the spokesman said.
“The deal we have negotiated with Tradewind means that suppliers are guaranteed to get paid in seven to 10 days, which is quicker than anyone else on the high street and at better rates than they could access elsewhere.
“The vast majority of our suppliers currently use Tradewind. This change also enables us to better unify terms across our business as well as simplify the payment process.”
Peacocks was acquired out of administration by billionaire Philip Day for £23 million in 2012.
The retailer is now part of Day’s Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, which also operates Jaeger, Austin Reed and Berwin & Berwin.
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