The Con in Connaught
So Connaught plc, the public sector outsourcing and social housing specialist looks like it is headed for administration, and 10, 0o0 jobs of real people doing real things are now at risk.
And why’s Connaught in so much trouble? Because the Directors’ accounting practices meant that contract losses now being uncovered were hidden, while those same directors took millions home in bonuses. The most recent acounts state helpfully:
Amounts recoverable on contracts represent the estimated amounts which have been earned or which valuation, under the terms of the respective contracts, have not yet been agreed with the customers.
Erm, so the contracts hadn’t been agreed, then? Doesn’t that mean they shouldn’t have shown up in the balance sheet, which was presumably a basis for those bonus calculations?
And who’s putting it into administration because of its £220m debt?
Yup, it’s RBS, bailed out to the tune of £20bn just under 2 years ago, and 84% owned by the taxpayer.
You are right. The Directors were crooks and as a Connaught employee I hope that the correct criminal charges follow. They made their personal fortunes at the expense of honest and hardworking workforce… They should be truely ashamed of their greed…
We’re looking into Connaught for a story for ITV’s London Tonight programme this evening. We’re looking to speak to employees, either on- or off-the-record. I can be reached at geoff.white@itn.co.uk, or 020 7430 4000.
What about all the staff, front line staff, operatives etc etc – thanks to that old “greed” button by the Directors, all the workers and I say “WORKERS” as they work so hard, constantly being penalised for not producing work, even though they do, are the ones to suffer
Oh yes “Are you on the Connaught Bus” YES all the employees were and still are and just look at the good that did them
Hats off to you Connaught Directors well done and whilst you’re at home or in a new job earning what you was earning before, just remember of the lives you have destroyed
This is a perfect opportunity for the Government to make a criminal example of the directors of Connaught whose activities of late have been most fraudulent.
How can a largely ‘public sector client’based company which is paid on a fortnightly basis be in such dire straits ??
Fraud – lets see what mettle the Governement has now – time for a total rethink on this Labour backed housing initiative .
Scum they owe me my life savings
same here everything over 100 thou!! cant survive!!
Steve Hunt says:
“This is a perfect opportunity for the Government to make a criminal example of the directors of Connaught whose activities of late have been most fraudulent.”
Bloody right as well, political differences aside I hope the coalition government has the bollocks to showcase this as an example of why workers unionise in the first place. This is a total sham, and it has terrible effects for good, honest hard working people.
The connaught board have been systematically screwing their staff (the ones that actually work), screwing their suppliers and srewing their customers (the taxpayers) for far too long. It’s time the board of directors past and present were made to pay for bleeding the company dry.
Prison is too good for them, the taxpayer will end up paying for their keep. They should be stripped of all their assets, which should be sold to pay off the company debts.
Mark Tincknell should be very proud of the way he has destroyed his father’s company and the lives of 10,000 plus current and ex employees whose lives he has ruined.
Asil Nadir (Polly Peck) is a saint compared to this man.
THE BIG RED BUS HAS CRASHED!!!
I used to work for a competitor and we were continually losing contracts by 40% and above. We all said this could not go on and so it seems to have been proved.The people at the top seemed to want the competion to go away so that as the contracts came up for retender they could increase their rates. One other thing didn’t their customers notably social housing notice and question the disparity in rates.
The “10,000″ job losses will never happen. There will be some, but the majority of contracts will be taken over by other contractors. The contractors are staffed up to do the work they currently have, so the majority of operatives will be TUPE’d over. This happens whenever one business loses a contract to another provider. The staff become employees of the new contractor. This happens all the time in this industry.
(spoken as an employee of one of the other major providers)
what about the poor old “subbies” we are owed a fortune and up until yesterday connaught were still asking us to carry out works which we refused. Our payments (joke) are long overdue and these assholes should be shot and made to pay back any profits they have made on the back of their robbery.
You are so right jim hancox .They knew this was gonna happen and they have had us working till yesterday and makeing us invoice for everything up to date so that they will get paid and i have not been paid since July.They owe me everything i have worked for I have 10 blokes want paying Friday and all my suppliers!!! A crime is being committed and nothing is being done about it.It cant go on fucking daylight robbery give them life!!!
Jim
You make a v good point. I left that out of this post for the sake of brevity, but the 10,000 staff directly at risk is certainly only one part of this meltdown. Hope you’ll be able to email/call ITN about this aspect of it.
please all sign petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/left_in_red_by_connaught/
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