Construction group Colmore Tang calls for support for Carillion subcontractors

Many of Carillion's subbies and suppliers face losing tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds because of the Wolverhampton-based construction company's 120 day payment terms. Firms that have worked for the company over the last three months face seeing little of any of the money they are owed.

Colmore Tang Construction (CTC) - the company that redeveloped offices at The Waterfront into a luxury apartments complex – is calling upon other contractors in the industry to rally around exposed subcontractors and consider paying up early to keep them in business.

The Birmingham-based business says it is vital for contractors to quickly support their subcontractors during this period of uncertainty, to avoid the risk of exacerbating problems of the already acute skilled trades shortage and increasing the ongoing problematic skills gap.

“No one can afford for skilled and talented subcontractors to go bust because of Carillion. The whole industry needs their skills and there are still jobs to be done and projects to be finished,” explained Andy Robinson, CEO of CTC.

“Subcontractors are understandably worried about their businesses, the experienced tradespeople they employ, and about what lies ahead. We think the industry should do what it can to offer a sense of stability, and where it can, practical support.”

Earlier this week, Carillion - which employs 43,000 people globally and 20,000 in Britain; 400 of which work at its city centre headquarters in Wolverhampton - announced it had gone into liquidation after running up massive debts of around £1.5 billion, leaving thousands of people in a state of uncertainty over their job.

“Subcontractors are the least protected, yet they are the people who employ most apprentices and collectively deliver the most training throughout the industry - we can’t afford for the Carillon crisis to add to the problem with the skills gap, so it is up to contractors to offer reassurance,” said Andy.

CTC - which was established in 2013 and has grown from zero to a turnover of £80 million last year - believes that paying subcontractors on time is the key to building successful partnerships in the industry.

“When we started out we were adamant we would always offer our supply chain attractive payment terms and guarantee they would be paid on time,” explained Andy. “We have always promised to pay our subcontractors within 30 days of receiving an appropriate invoice.”

Now, at a time when subcontractors may be facing financial difficulty in the wake of Carillion’s downfall, CTC hopes more contractors will follow in its footsteps.

“Unfortunately in our industry late payments are not uncommon, but now more than ever subcontractors will be relying on us as contractors to keep the cash flowing,” continued Andy.

“We understand that Carillion’s collapse will result in a period of disruption and we are prepared to have conversations with any of our subcontractors who might be struggling and perhaps need to be paid earlier than our 30-day agreement.

“The projects that Carillion had committed to still need to be built and there’s no denying that the construction sector is booming. It’s therefore up to us to make sure subcontractors are still in work and that there are as few job losses as possible - if any.”

As well as offering its support to subcontractors, CTC will also be recruiting for a number of senior professional and managerial positions within the business.

Andy added: “From a management perspective, the demise of Carillion could provide an unexpected opportunity for their employees to make a career move and step up to their next role.”

New roles within CTC will include contracts managers, site managers, operations managers, design managers, design coordinators, document controllers, project managers and assistant quantity surveyors.

For more information about current jobs available at CTC visit: www.colmoretang.com