Marsh Industries has hosted a meeting with MP Tom Pursglove to recommend the introduction of creditor days, in a bid to avoid a repeat of Carillion.
Suppliers of goods and services can currently only base credit decisions on the information in the public domain and may not have the resource to obtain credit insurance. It is said that this can lead to an erroneous belief in the financial solidity of large contractors, with potentially disastrous results.
Marsh hosted this meeting to put forward the idea of companies having to include creditor days and specifically the number of days they take to settle accounts and the number of days over terms in their audited accounts. The hope is that this would enable merchants and sub-contractors to make informed decisions on supply as there would be more transparency surrounding accounts.
Steve Boyer, Managing Director of Marsh Industries, explained: “We cannot have another Carillion. The impact on the industry continues to reverberate and damage all sectors. I am calling on the Government to legislate to ensure transparency in accounts, which will help restore confidence and I will be urging industry bodies to lobby Parliament. Marsh has always supported merchants and sub-contractors and this initiative shows our continuing commitment.”
