Carillion collapse: Partners in a scramble to cushion blow of failure

Carillion's partners on a swathe of public-sector deals were scrambling to activate contingency plans on Monday to ward off the impact of the company’s collapse.

Fellow builder Kier, which has joint ventures with the failed firm on the £56 billion HS2 rail project as well as Highways England’s “smart motorways” projects, said it was “working closely with clients so as to achieve continuity of service” following a short transition phase.

Its shares rose 13p to 1095p, or 1%, as it stressed that “we do not expect there to be an adverse financial impact on the group arising from these joint venture contracts”. Amey is Carillion’s partner on a major deal to maintain the Ministry of Defence’s housing and other buildings across the UK.

It said it had been working on detailed contingency plans with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and the Cabinet Office to “ensure continuity of service to the... servicemen and women in the UK”. Balfour Beatty added that it would have to pay out up to £45 million extra to cover Carillion’s share of three road projects.

The Government was also urging Carillion’s thousands of workers on public-sector contracts to turn up for work this morning, stressing that their terms and conditions would be unchanged.