Carillion failure: "Tragic", says incoming boss left high and dry

The incoming boss of collapsed building giant Carillion, due to start work at the business within days, spoke out for the first time earlier, saying the failure of the company was a “tragedy”.

Andrew Davies, the former chief executive of privately owned construction firm Wates, was announced as the new boss to lead the turnaround of Carillion last October. He was due to start on Monday, a week after the company went into liquidation.

The collapse puts 43,000 jobs in jeopardy including nearly 20,000 UK staff.

Davies, who spent most of his career at BAE Systems, told the Standard: “It’s a tragedy. It’s so sad for the employees, it really is. It’s a very, very sad situation with the staff. I just hope some good comes out of it for those poor employees.”

Davies had no involvement in the frantic efforts to save the business over the past six months, undertaken by interim chief executive Keith Cochrane.

“I was under a settlement agreement with Wates and that terminates on Sunday. That’s really the end of it. Anything I did do was with Wates’ agreement but really it was just ‘meet the people’ and that was it," said Davies.

Like other staff, Davies is in limbo, and said it was “too early” to comment on his plans. He had originally been due to start in April but in December brought that forward.

“I’m waiting to be told what somebody wants to do with me. I never got there,” the 54-year old added.

Since Davies’s departure the £2 billion turnover business, owned by the multi-millionaire Wates family, has been run by acting chief executive David Allen, the former chief financial officer.

Davies’s comments came as more details emerged over the waning faith in Carillion among its private-sector clients in the months leading up to the collapse.

Speaking at a London First housing summit, Quintain chief executive Angus Dodd revealed the firm had lined up Carillion for a £130 million contract three months ago on its vast development site at Wembley, before deciding to give it to a rival.

He said Quintain had concerns about Carillion and added the firm “places great emphasis on the financial strength of our contractors”.

Regeneration developer Pinnacle Group’s Perry Lloyd added: “The demise of Carillion is a wake-up call for both the private and public sector. For too long both have been prepared to accept the lowest rather than the best price from contractors and suppliers.”