In what was seen as one of the biggest commercial shocks of early 2018, the multinational construction and facilities management company Carillion was forced to liquidate. Liam Halligan now investigates the story for Dispatches and asks how such a large company could go under so suddenly and what it means for the masses of people – the British government included – who relied on it.
In the largest liquidation of a trading company in British history, Carillion – a company built on millions of pounds worth of public spending and government contracts – was forced to close its doors in January earlier this year. Using new testimony from insiders across the City and Whitehall, as well as Carillion itself, Halligan’s investigates how such a catastrophic implosion came to be and discovers a web of phony profits hiding extraordinary debts.
With so many government regulations in place to stop such a disaster, Liam asks how this came to fruition and whether the British public can rely on the government’s private contractors to keep the nation’s infrastructure running smoothly.
How to Lose Seven Billion Pounds – Wednesday 10:00pm on Channel 4.
