Carillion, one of the UK’s largest construction companies, now faces being wound up – but what will be affected?
Sky News had learnt that the firm, which is building the HS2 high-speed rail link and other big Government infrastructure projects, could crash as soon as Monday.
That has now happened through an application for compulsory liquidation – meaning the company will eventually be wound up, with creditors sharing money from the sale of its assets.
Carillion was created in 1999 by the famous road surfacing business Tarmac in a demerger.
Today, it employs 19,500 people in the UK alone, and is based in Wolverhampton.
We’ve delivered another successful project at the #Edinburgh Waverley Station.We installed the 150A and 150B modular crossover panels between platforms 10 & 11 during a 54-hour Christmas possession & 29-hour New Year possession. pic.twitter.com/mtApxGfcmc
— Carillion plc (@Carillionplc) January 2, 2018
As recently as 2 January, the company celebrated “another successful project” at Edinburgh Waverley Station.
It is the second-largest supplier to Network Rail and maintains approximately half of the UK’s prisons as well as roughly 50,000 homes for the Ministry of Defence.
It is also building the Aberdeen bypass as well as schools across Britain, and completed the Great Western Hospital in Swindon in 2002.
Image: Carillion built GCHQ’s ‘doughnut’ in Cheltenham
Carillion’s major projects have included “the doughnut” – the iconic circular office building of the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) – completed in 2003.
Alongside new facilities for the Royal Opera House, Carillion completed the Tate Modern in London in 2000.
Its other projects have included the Grand Mosque in Oman, completed in 2001, as well as an expansion to Liverpool FC’s Anfield stadium in 2016.
Image: The company also built the Tate Modern
It reported revenues of more than £5bn in 2016, and is one of the largest construction service multinationals in the UK.
Despite this, it reported a first-half pre-tax loss of £1.15bn for 2017 last September, while it announced just before Christmas that its lenders had agreed to defer a test of its borrowing agreements from 31 December to 30 April.
More from Carillion
As Sky News revealed last weekend, without support from the Government, Carillion’s syndicate of banks had indicated they would not provide up to £300m of new funding required from the end of the month.
The company was contracted to construct HS2, the high-speed rail link, and its demise will threaten severe delays unless another partner agrees to complete the work.
Source: Sky