Inquiry into the collapse of Carillion

This week marks the start of a two-part inquiry into Carillion’s collapse after a joint inquiry was launched by the business and the work and pensions select committees. 

MPs are keen to find answers about what role senior executives played in the firm’s downfall. The committees will hear from Robin Ellison, chairman of trustees of Carillion’s pension scheme and next week, Carillion’s former chief executive Richard Howson and chairman Phillip Green will be summoned, along with a host of finance directors.

New research has shown the firm was the main contractor on 57 construction projects worth a total of £5.7bn on the day it liquidated.

The information comes from construction industry analysts Barbour ABI who have accounted for major projects such as Royal Liverpool Hospital and an army basing programme in Salisbury worth £450m and £340m respectively. The two schemes which remain in limbo are two of ten projects which are worth more than £150m. The figures also account for the £1.3bn HS2 contract.

Analysts say Carillion were also involved in 16 framework contracts as part of a list of companies pre-selected or pre-qualified to undertake works for an organisation.

These framework contracts are not included as part of the final 57 projects as there is no guarantee that they had won any work from the framework.

Commenting on these findings, Michael Dall, lead economist at Barbour ABI, said: “Carillion were deeply embedded within the construction industry – they were the second biggest contractor in the UK by revenue. Our records show that they were the main contractor on almost 60 schemes worth a total value of £5.7bn. That is not to mention the plethora of other contracts where they were carrying out other construction roles.”

Yesterday, a further 452 jobs were lost as a result of the collapse of the company, the losses were on top of 377 announced on Friday.