MPs demand more evidence from Carillion bosses

Aaron Morby 7 years ago
Share

Watchdog MPs have demanded more answers from Carillion chiefs after they failed adequately to address what action they took to save the group in the months before its collapse.

Former CEO Richard Howson has been called to provide more details about the Royal Liverpool Hospital concrete beam failures
Former CEO Richard Howson has been called to provide more details about the Royal Liverpool Hospital concrete beam failures

The former directors are being pressed for more detail on points in their testimonies to the joint business and pensions committee inquiry, particularly where it appeared to contradict other evidence.

The directors had blamed a number of different factors for Carillion’s collapse on 15 January.

Rachel Reeves and Frank Field, who are chairing the inquiry into Carillion’s collapse branded the board earlier this month as “a series of delusional characters” who “maintained that everything was hunky dory until it all went suddenly and unforeseeably wrong”.

The Committees have now contacted the Federation of Small Business offering them the chance to respond to the dismissal by the Carillion directors of their evidence that Carillion were “notorious late payers” who “abused their dominant position” and left suppliers waiting for payment even beyond their extraordinarily long contracted payment terms.

Former CEO Richard Howson has been called upon to provide more detail about the structural beams at the Royal Liverpool Hospital whose design flaws were among the many factors ascribed some responsibility for Carillion’s downfall.

He has also been asked about his dealings on the Qatar contract – singled out for particular blame for the company’s demise –  and how much he was paid for his ongoing work in Qatar after he was removed as CEO.

Former finance director Zafar Khan has been asked to clarify again the terms of his departure, including whether a non-disclosure agreement was attached to it.

Meanwhile chairman Philip Green is asked about the “surprise” deterioration in the company’s cash flow shown in the September 2017 presentation that Zafar Khan stated had “spooked” the board and led to his dismissal.

Also Richard Adam, finance director between April 2007 – December 2016, is being called on to explain in more detail what he thinks happened to the “healthy” company he left, for it to go into compulsory liquidation a year later, and about acquisitions like Alfred McAlpine, which added £650m “goodwill” to Carillion’s books but otherwise held net liabilities of £50m.

Latest news

M&S Marble Arch rebuild approved after three-year planning fight

Plans were delayed when Michael Gove backed carbon campaigners
57 mins ago

PM pledges to fast-track 150 infrastructure schemes

Fresh promise to speed up planning decisions on infrastructure and house building
4 hours ago

Buyers report boom in commercial work

Construction bucks slowdown in general economy
8 hours ago

Plans in for £250m Stockport 8 housing-led scheme

Work to start on phase 1 by the end of next year
7 hours ago

Galliford Try tops monthly contracts league

Contract awards slow down in November
11 hours ago

Erith explosives set demolition record at Sizewell

Watch blast at former nuclear turbine hall: Video
10 hours ago

Vistry to build 950 homes next to Olympic Park

Developer signed for £600m Pudding Mill Lane scheme in East London
10 hours ago

Inflatable formwork used for 45m tall cement silo

Ground-breaking dome silo inflated at Tilbury Docks
10 hours ago

Briggs & Forrester sells maintenance arm

100 engineers to move over to new owner
1 day ago

£2bn Edinburgh ‘West Town’ scheme approved

7,000 homes to be built at 205-acre site
1 day ago

Rayner approves Lancashire super prison

Communities secretary overrules planning inspector for 1,700 inmate prison.
1 day ago

Wates boss returns after collapse of his own contractor

Paul Nicholls was head of the failed Real construction group
2 days ago

Trio secure Birmingham deal to retrofit 3,000 homes a year

Specialist contractors to install insulation, efficient heating and solar panels
1 day ago

Costain confirms £400m HS2 tunnels win

Work to start early next year on tunnel and lineside mechanical and electrical systems
1 day ago

First nuclear reactor installed at Hinkley: Video

Watch precision operation at Somerset site
1 day ago

Winner named for £14m Harbourside revamp

Local Irvine contractor to transform beach front
1 day ago

New Fair Payment Code goes live today

Latest bid to get subcontractors and suppliers paid within 30 days
2 days ago

Lincolnshire concrete supplier files administration notice

Ever Readymix Concrete & Screed operates three depots and a fleet of 20 trucks
2 days ago

Graham lands first deal on Liverpool’s largest brownfield site

Contractor bags infrastructure package on 10.5 hectare site
3 days ago

Bouygues UK boss to step down

Fabienne Viala to leave after eight years at the helm
3 days ago

Galliford Try scoops £87m brace of London jobs

Firm will redevelop a prominent corner building on Sloane Street in Chelsea
2 days ago

New HS2 boss Mark Wild starts amid prep for final TBM drives

Former Crossrail CEO starts with a sharp focus on controlling costs
3 days ago

Ten consultants land Thames Water major upgrade places

Firms will share £400m of fee work over next five years
3 days ago

Rayner ultimatum to fix all unsafe tall buildings by 2029

Recladding work must start on all 18m+ resi buildings by 2027
3 days ago

ISG administrator finds just £35m to pay down £1.1bn debt

Failed firm was set to report £148m blackhole from legacy jobs
3 days ago

Redesign needed on Colas “bridge to nowhere”

Technical challenges continue as £38m scheme faces further delays
3 days ago

Skanska UK shakes-up boardroom team

Four new board appointments as two directors step down
3 days ago

Ultra rich clamour for Mace super prime resi scheme

Topping out at £2bn 1 Mayfair scheme where homes start at £35m
3 days ago

Watkin Jones wins £48m St Helen’s affordable homes deal

Firm to build nearly 300 homes for housing association
3 days ago

Barratt sets start date for High Barnet station scheme

Latest scheme to be delivered by the £1.9bn West London Partnership
3 days ago

Contractor services