Fatcats ‘stuffed mouths with gold’ Carillion chiefs blasted over ‘rotten culture’

GREEDY bosses at collapsed Carillion have been blasted as too busy “stuffing their mouths with gold” to care for the firm’s thousands of workers and pensioners.

A damning MPS’ report accuses the bigwigs of overseeing a “rotten corporate culture” that turned the UK’S second biggest construction firm into an unsustainable “time bomb”.

Shamed chief executive Richard Howson, chairman Philip Green and former finance director Richard Adam are among those singled out for blame.

The report says the Insolvency Service should “carefully consider” recommending whether former directors should face a boardroom ban.

And it slams the “feeble” Pensions Regulator and Financial Reporting Council, together with big accountancy firms, for their part in the scandal.

Carillion, which employed 43,000 people, went to the wall in January. The report by the Commons Business Select and Work and Pensions Committees lays bare the rapid growth of the company through buying big rivals which often had large pension deficits.

It said the company’s “relentless dash for cash” left it lumbered with heavy debt.

Yet it continued to dish out big dividends to shareholders, including £55million last June – just a month before revealing an £845m contracts’ black hole and profit warning.

Carillion’s collapse has left 27,000 pensioners facing a shortfall, and the the Pension Protection Fund – which steps in when firms fail – is braced for its biggest hit. More than 30,000 suppliers and sub-contractors are owed £2billion, with the Government already committing £150m to keep essential services running.

The report criticised Carillion’s non-executive directors for allowing a rule change preventing the clawing back of bosses’ bonuses.

Frank Field MP, Work and Pensions chair, said: “Same old story. Same old greed.

“A board of directors too busy stuffing their mouths with gold to show any concern for the welfare of their workforce or their pensioners.

“British industry is too important to be left in the hands of the likes of the shysters at the top of Carillion.”

Roger Barker, from the Institute of Directors, said: “Carillion’s collapse undermined the already low level of public trust in business.”

Richard Adam said in a statement: “I reject the unwarranted conclusions the Committees have reached concerning my role at the company.”