Liquidators have recovered £500m from Carillion and its subsidiaries since its collapse January last year.
An update from the Official Receiver David Chapman to MPs Frank Field and Rachel Reeves, who chair the Carillion Joint Inquiry, revealed that liquidators had clawed back around £88m since December 2018, with another £10m of recoveries were expected, from asset sales, insurance recoveries and debtor recoveries.
Carillion was estimated to owe around £2bn to 30,000 subcontractors, suppliers and other short-term creditors when it collapsed.
The letter also revealed that accountancy firm PwC, which has provided ‘special managers’ to deal with the liquidation, charged £43.7m in fees between 15 January 2018 and 31 December 2018, followed by another £8.5m from 1 January 2019 until 1 August this year.
Chapman said he would continue to need PwC’s help but that the average number of staff assisting him was falling, down to an average of 14.6 per week between June to August 2019, down from 155.2 in January to March 2018.
The last 125 Carillion employees were made redundant by 31 December 2018. In total, 16% of the workforce was made redundant, while 84% of jobs were saved, with the majority transferring to new contractors.
Chapman added: “The complexities of Carillion’s structure and dealings as well as the volume of evidence to be reviewed are significant and it is not possible to say when we will complete the ongoing investigation. We are however working as quickly as practically possible and this work continues to be a priority.”
