Network Rail to pay 300 Carillion sub-contractors for Christmas work

Network Rail has today attempted to ease the plight of around 300 of Carillion’s smaller rail suppliers by paying them for work carried out over Christmas and up until the company’s liquidation.

It comes as the Official Receiver's special managers, PwC, and Network Rail announce they have reached an agreement on arrears owed with around two-thirds of Carillion’s rail supply chain to be accounted for.

The positive news today follows last week’s announcement that employees of the collapsed construction firm working on Network Rail projects would have their wages guaranteed through to mid-April. PWC and Network Rail also stated arrangements had been made to ensure rail employees are paid as normal this month for work done in January.

Commenting on the payment, Matthew Steele, Network Rail’s commercial director, said: "We recognise how challenging this period has been for our small suppliers. We hope that this will be some positive news to the hundreds of smaller companies up and down the country who have been worried about the impact on their business. These small organisations are a critical part of our supply chain both now and in the future. PwC, together with our in-house task force and the Carillion teams, are carefully managing this difficult period to keep all our rail projects going, and are working hand-in-glove to find ways to support staff and suppliers alike."

The two statements provide some reprieve for employees and suppliers who have been left with uncertain futures since Carillion filed for liquidation last Monday (15 January) after unsuccessful talks with the government. The firm employed 43,000 people, nearly 20,000 of which are in the UK, and had work across a number of high-profile projects, including HS2.

The arrears payments are said to be starting today and will take a number of working days to process. Network Rail and PwC are also continuing to explore and investigate arrears owed to other, bigger rail suppliers and how they can best be dealt with.