Carillion bosses say 'sorry' to MPs as they are accused of being 'asleep at the wheel'

As former directors appeared before a joint inquiry committee of MPs they tried to fend off a string of accusations about the way they ran the business.

Thousands of former workers now face losing their jobs, including 400 at Carillion’s headquarters in Wolverhampton, while 28,000 pensioners will see their retirement payouts cut in the wake of the company’s liquidation.

Several of the former bosses, including ex-chief executive Richard Howson and chairman Phillip Green, expressed sorrow over what had happened to the business.

But they remained silent at the end of the hearing as committee co-chairs MPs Frank Field and Rachel Reeves called on them to return their bonuses.

Earlier, former finance director Zafar Khan denied an accusation from Mr Field that he had been ‘asleep at the wheel’ as Carillion’s debts ballooned and cash dried up.

He said Brexit uncertainty and the 2017 general election had led to delays in Carillion being able to secure vital new contracts to keep the money rolling in.

Mr Howson, a 22-year veteran with Carillion, was sacked last summer shortly after the company revealed an £845 million black hole from a handful of building contracts.

One unpaid debt was for £200 million over a much-delayed construction project in Qatar, which Mr Howson said he chased for 18 months. He said: “60 per cent of my time was on cash calls, out and about collecting.”

Chairman Phillip Green admitted directors knew the company was weighed down by too much debt which left it unable to cope with the string of loss-making building contracts, including the Midland Metropolitan Hospital at Smethwick.

Mr Green said: “The collapse is the responsibility of the chairman and the board. As chairman of the board, I take full responsibility.”

He added: “We went into the year with too much debt. Contracts deteriorated rapidly and because we didn’t have that wiggle room, that was a significant factor.” He added: “If I look back, there are things I would have done differently, there’s no question about that.”

Mr Green rejected the suggestion by Mr Field that directors should not be permitted to work at other companies.

“I believe that all of the board, every decision we took was right at the time we took it.” In the earlier session Keith Cochrane, who took over running Carillion after Mr Howson stepped down, said he believed the company could have been saved, even the day before the Official Receiver placed it in liquidation.

But he said it would have need £160 million of short-term lending from Government while it completed its restructuring. The money would have been returned in April, he said.