Committees publish correspondence on 'notorious late payers' Carillion

2 February 2018

The Work and Pensions and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committees publish correspondence from Mike Cherry, National Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, on Carillion's payment of suppliers ('an abuse of Carillion's dominant position') and the impact on small businesses of Carillion's collapse.

The letter includes a number of questions related to Carillion and the Government's involvement with the company and with small businesses.

Huge numbers of suppliers facing late or no payment

Rt Hon Frank Field MP, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said:

"Philip Green was part of the Government's advisory panel looking at how to deal with bad business practice. He obviously brought a lot of technical knowledge to the brief. But has the Government benefitted?
For clearly Carillion didn't, leaving huge numbers of smaller suppliers not only facing late payments, but no payments at all."

Exploiting their position

Rachel Reeves MP, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee, said:

"The collapse of Carillion has left small businesses and sub-contractors out-of-pocket with many left unpaid for months and now facing potential ruin. It's clear that Carillion were notorious late-payers, ruthlessly exploiting their position to bully their contractors in a desperate bid to prop up their precarious business model.
The fact that Carillion were at the same time fully signed up to the Prompt Payment Code will be a cruel joke for the businesses they took 120 days or more to pay. The Federation of Small Businesses raise a series of important questions for Carillion directors about the company's business model and about the Government's support for small businesses and suppliers."

Further information

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