'Delusional' Carillion bosses slammed in report on company's collapse

News

Bosses at defunct facilities management and construction company Carillion were ‘too busy stuffing their mouths with gold to show any concern for the welfare of their workforce or their pensioners.’

Carillion

This damning conclusion, from Frank Field MP, chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, is one of several to be found in the final report on the company's collapse, which has been compiled in conjunction with BEIS. In it, government is accused of lacking ‘decisiveness or bravery’ whilst Carillion’s directors are described as ‘delusional’ and ‘shysters’.

Before it went into liquidation on January 15, 2018, Carillion was one of the government’s biggest private contractors. In the UK alone it could count 20,000 staff working on construction projects. It delivered services to UK schools, prisons, hospitals and the MoD.

In July and September 2017 Carillion issued profit warnings but was still awarded contracts worth £1.3bn to build key sections of the planned HS2 network. Carillion went into liquidation in January 2018 with liabilities of nearly £7bn, including a £2.6bn pension deficit and around £2bn owed to suppliers, sub-contractors and other short-term creditors. The company’s cash position amounted to £29m.

Register now to continue reading

Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.  

Benefits of registering

  • In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends

  • Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year

  • Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox

Register
Or continue by

Signing in with your registered email address