Department store group Hema has angered suppliers by demanding they pay back 3% to 5% of the amount they earned from the Dutch high street retailer in 2013, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday.

Hema has also told suppliers it is to start paying bills 120 days after delivery rather than 90 days from April.

The news was broken to suppliers on Monday at a special meeting for their representatives, the Telegraaf says.

One supplier who sold €2m worth of goods to Hema last year has been told to pay back €80,000, Maurice Yocarini of the association of Far East importers told the Telegraaf.

Choice

Yocarini told Nos television the discount of 4% plus the extension in payment terms will cause some suppliers problems. ‘And they have no choice whether or not to agree,’ he told Nos radio. ‘And if they don’t, they won’t get any more orders.’

Yocarini is angry that Hema is changing its terms and conditions retroactively. ‘You can’t backdate a change in a contract,’ he said. ‘This is not normal, whatever the sector.’

Hema has refused to comment on the complaints in detail, saying negotiations are taking place with individual suppliers. ‘Sometimes we change the conditions to benefit suppliers, sometimes it works against them,’ a spokesman told the Telegraaf.

Expansion

Hema said at the beginning of this year it is planning to open stores in England and Spain within the first six months of 2014.

Hema is a staple of most Dutch high streets, selling own-label household goods, clothes, some foods and office supplies. The company is owned by British venture capital group Lion Capital.

Hema is not the first Dutch retailer to demand a discount from its suppliers. In September 2012, Dutch supermarket group Albert Heijn wrote to its suppliers telling them it expects a further 2% discount on bulk-buy purchases to help fund the company’s growth.

‘As a supplier, you grow with us,’ the letter stated. ‘To facilitate this growth, we think it is fitting that you make an appropriate contribution.’