GRAHAM HISCOTT Fight to avoid new ‘Carillion’ Shareholders will lose out in rescue plan

THOUSANDS of small investors in struggling outsourcing giant Interserve face being wiped out under a rescue plan announced yesterday.

The debt-for-equity swap would see Interserve fall into the hands of its banks. The plan should safeguard 75,000 jobs, including 45,000 in the UK. But small shareholders would be left with virtually nothing.

Interserve makes 70% of its £3.2billion in annual sales from the public sector, providing services in prisons, schools and hospitals Under the proposal, Interserve’s debt would fall from £650million to £275m.

One of Interserve’s shareholders, New York hedge fund Coltrane, has called for Interserve’s entire board, apart from chief executive Debbie White, to go. White said the rescue plan was “critical” for survival.

But Kevin Brandstatter, national officer at the GMB, warned: “The deal leaves a lot of unanswered questions for GMB members working in the NHS, the Ministry of Defence, the probation services, schools and local authorities.”

He warned ongoing losses could mean an attack on pay, pensions and other terms and conditions.

Ministers are desperate to avoid a repeat of Carillion, the building and outsourcing giant that collapsed a year ago. It emerged yesterday that accountancy giant PWC was expected to rake in £44m last year from helping with Carillion’s liquidation.

The Insolvency Service said PWC had already billed for £35m worth of work. However, it said the total cost of the liquidation would be around £72m, half the £148m estimated by the National Audit Office.

Yesterday, MP Frank Field of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, which probed the failure of Carillion and shop chain BHS, warned a repeat was possible.

He said: “A year since Carillion’s collapse, four since BHS, and there’s still nothing to stop greedy, ruthless or just complacent directors taking a one-way bet with the livelihoods and pensions of their workers, with their small business suppliers and with the UK taxpayer.”

Made.com is sitting pretty after achieving a 37% jump in sales.Turnover for the sofa and bed business hit £173million last year – £100m in the UK, the rest overseas – with the group marginally loss making. It trades online but has three UK showrooms in Birmingham, Leeds and London for buyers to browse, plus other showrooms abroad.The company, co-founded by Lastminute.com tycoon Brent Hoberman, is launching in DREAMY Annual sales soared 37% for Made.com Portugal, Italy, Denmark and Sweden, home of Ikea.Chief creative officer Jo Jackson said: “We are doing something different with our physical spaces.“They are not shops, they are brand experiences.”