Carillion collapse risks thousands of jobs

Carillion, the construction firm and public-sector contractor, has gone into liquidation, threatening thousands of jobs.

The Wolverhampton-based company employs 43,000 staff worldwide, including 20,000 in the UK, and it is not clear yet how those staff will be affected. The Government has committed to funding contracts for the time being and has asked all staff to turn up for work as normal, promising that they will be paid.

Labour and the Unite union have called for an urgent inquiry into the collapse to investigate why the Government did not act on earlier warning signs that the firm was in trouble.

“Given £2billion worth of Government contracts were awarded in the time three profit warnings were given by Carillion, a serious investigation needs to be launched into the government’s handling of this matter,” said Jon Trickett, the Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office.