Sites remain shut as liquidation enters fifth day
Desperate subcontractors have been warned not to break into idle sites and retrieve kit as Carillion鈥檚 liquidator confirmed firms owed money at the time it went bust will not be paid.
Rudi Klein, the chief executive of the Specialist Engineering Contractors鈥� Group, said: 鈥淵ou get stories of specialists who have just delivered plant to sites that is worth thousands of pounds. While it鈥檚 locked up, it can鈥檛 be used on another job.鈥�
John Wevill, head of construction at London law firm Boodle Hatfield, told 好色先生TV: 鈥淚 have no doubt some people will be reaching for bolt cutters. My advice is however desperate you are or angry, don鈥檛 do it. It鈥檚 a criminal offence.
鈥淭he only legal way to retrieve the goods is to contact the keyholder of the site and retrieve them under supervision.鈥�
Liquidator PwC told industry groups at a meeting at the Department for Business that suppliers鈥� worst fears would be realised and that they would be left out of pocket by Carillion鈥檚 implosion.
One of the accountant鈥檚 six special managers brought in to deal with the liquidation said it would provide suppliers with commitment letters that guarantee payment for work undertaken and materials supplied during the liquidation process.
But David Kelly said work completed before Monday, when Carillion went bust, would be treated as unsecured debt and at the back of the queue for payment.
He added work had been paused on many construction sites until the situation could be evaluated but was unable to provide a timeframe for if and when work would restart.
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