Carillion labelled “one of the most complex insolvencies ever” as jobs saved nears 10,000 barrier
The government will today announce more than half of Carillion’s pre-liquidation workforce have had their jobs saved.
The Insolvency Service is to reveal almost 1,000 more positions have been safeguarded. This means nearly 10,000 of Carillion’s 18,000-strong directly employed workforce have seen their roles preserved.
The announcement comes as Carillion’s liquidation nears its three-month anniversary. What was Britain’s second-biggest contractor collapsed in mid-January under a mountainous debt pile and a £300m cash hole.
Faced with the challenge of being able to fund an insolvency, accounting giants EY and PwC declined to take an appointment, leaving it to the government’s Official Receiver to take control.
While further job transfers are anticipating in subsequent weeks a fresh round of redundancies will also be revealed. Close to 10 per cent of the Carillion’s workforce have so far lost their jobs.
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Special manager
The Official Receiver – part of the Insolvency Service – hired PwC as its so-called special manager. The firm has been the subject of criticism for charging £20.4m for its first eight weeks of work. Court statements revealed Carillion had just £24m of cash reserves when it failed.
PwC, the administrator of Lehman Brothers – one of Europe’s biggest corporate failures – said Carillion’s collapse had been “one of the most complex insolvencies ever”.
A spokesperson said: “We have helped the Official Receiver ensure the continuity of important public services, such as the delivery of school dinners and gritting of roads, and save thousands of Carillion jobs. We were appointed because of our ability to deliver the scale, skills and experience at the speed required to minimise the disruption caused by the collapse of Carillion.”
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