In an email sent this week, Nigel McKay, the head of procurement for Bovis Lend Lease UK, asked suppliers and subcontractors to confirm to Bovis whether they had been “adversely affected” 
by the Rok collapse.

The email states: “I am writing to find out if any company in our existing supply chain has a commercial/financial exposure to Rok Plc which may adversely affect their cash flow or business trading position in the short term”.

McKay asks for “full details” of any issue companies are experiencing and the email goes on to ask for the main contact within any affected subcontractor who can “interface with Bovis’s financial accreditation team to review in detail any impact which might affect Bovis Lend Lease”.

One subcontractor who received the email said he was stunned by the way Bovis was behaving.

He said: “This shows what stage the industry has reached. This is sensitive information. There has to be some fair play and decency about it.”