Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CARILLION COLLAPSE BOSS: IT IS MY FAULT
Green says he’s ‘deeply sorry’
CARILLION chairman Philip Green yesterday took the blame for Britain’s biggest corporate failure in a decade.
Mr Green was in charge when the construction giant, which provided services for schools, hospitals and prisons, went bust with £1.5billion debts last month.
He told MPS his “responsibility” was “full and complete, total” and added: “I am deeply sorry for the impact the collapse of the company had on employees, pensioners, customers, suppliers and all stakeholders.”
Former finance chief Zafar Khan also appeared before the joint Business and Pensions Committee hearing and said he was “surprised” the firm failed – despite profit warnings last year.
He denied being “asleep at the wheel” and claimed uncertainty over Brexit and the snap general election had made times hard.
And Richard Howson, booted out as chief executive last year, was condemned for refusing to repay £538,000 in bonuses.
Frank Field MP told him: “You have done very well out of a company you helped to crash.”
Later, Labour colleague Rachel Reeves said “delusional” bosses had “built a giant company on sand” in “a dash for cash”.
Meanwhile, patients face a “significant delay” in the opening of the new £335million Royal Liverpool University Hospital, which was almost completed by Carillion when it went under.
Trust bosses said the collapse had caused “severe financial difficulties” for subcontractors and it was “difficult at this stage to get them back on the site”.