Industry leaders to petition PM

UK: A petition on fair payment and retentions will be delivered to UK prime minister Theresa May later this month by Peter Aldous MP and a delegation of industry leaders.

BESA and ECA, who are coordinating the presentation on April 23 comes just four days before the second reading of the Aldous Bill, which proposes cash retentions owed to suppliers should be held in trust accounts.

The group of industry leaders presenting the petition includes the National Federation of Self Employed & Small Businesses national chair Mike Cherry, Federation of Master Builders chief executive Brian Berry, director general of the Institute of Directors Stephen Martin, ECA CEO Steve Bratt and BESA CEO David Frise.

“This represents a tremendous show of support from industry and MPs,” commented BESA’s David Frise. “At its best, the industry can deliver a first-class built environment, but cash retentions impact every one of the 330,000 SMEs and sole traders represented in this petition. We need reform now and the proposal to hold cash retentions in trust will be a start to demonstrate lessons have been learned from Carillion.”

Payment abuse has climbed up the political agenda since construction giant Carillion collapsed just six days after the first reading of the Aldous Bill, leaving many SMEs owed huge sums of money. Had retentions owed by Carillion to suppliers been held in trust, this money could have been recovered.

Related stories:

Aldous launches retentions bill – 8 January 2018
UK: Proposed parliamentary legislation to ring-fence retentions has attracted support from politicians across the House. Read more…

Carillion holding £800m in retentions – 15 January 2018
UK: Collapsed construction firm Carillion could be holding over £800m in retentions payments owed to sub-contractors, according to the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA). Read more…