BESA urges government to act quickly following ISG collapse

In response to the collapse of main contractor ISG, the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) is calling for a “tough and rapid response” from government.

M&E firms are expected to be among the hardest hit by the financial collapse of the £2.2 billion turnover business with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs.

Construction data firm Barbour ABI estimates that ISG has unfinished projects worth £1.7 billion, including the £150 million fit-out of Google’s new headquarters building at King’s Cross, and building services firms are facing millions of pounds of unpaid bills.

Eight divisions, including ISG Construction Limited and ISG Engineering Services Limited, fell into administration on 20 September, although BESA says many sub-contractors had been downing tools for some time due to missed payment deadlines.

Contracts secured on a fixed price basis, many before the Covid-19 pandemic, have been blamed for taking down a £4 billion plus portfolio of unfinished and planned projects that includes dozens of vital public sector buildings such as schools and prisons, and work for several high-profile private sector clients.

Ranked in the top four UK main contractors, ISG is the biggest construction firm to collapse since Carillion in 2018 and the fallout is expected to be equally damaging. However, BESA Chief Executive Officer David Frise said it was just the latest in a series of company administrations that had been undermining UK supply chains in recent years.

He said: “Sadly, the lessons of Carillion have not been learned and our members and hundreds of other sub-contractors are left to pick up the pieces yet again. Profit margins in construction are wafer thin and the fragile basis of many contracts means SMEs are particularly exposed.

“Suppliers will feel hugely betrayed, and we know that many were lied to about the status of the business following the sudden departure of senior directors back in February. Several excellent, financially sound firms could go under with significant job losses through no fault of their own because of this.”

BESA’s Legal & Commercial Director Debbie Petford reached out to members when the news broke to remind them of the free services they could access immediately including resources to help with payment issues, contract management, business protection, mediation, and debts.

Petford said: “We are aware that several members are directly affected by this news, and we want you to know that BESA has your back. Members have instant access to our dedicated legal & commercial expert team who are always available to help with any concerns or queries regarding contracts or payments – and any contact with us is strictly confidential.”

BESA has also created an ISG Insolvency Information Sheet which explains the administration process to members in more detail, and covers unsecured debt and sub-contractors’ legal obligations.

However, the Association said the government should recognise that the “ISG debacle and the wider woes of the sector” represent a significant threat to its ambitions to grow the UK economy – and urged it to speed up a consultation on new laws to address the ongoing late payment crisis.

Just days before ISG went into administration, the government announced new measures to help small businesses and the self-employed tackle “the scourge of late payments”, which it said was costing SMEs £22,000 a year on average and causing 50,000 business closures.

It promised to consult on “tough new laws” to hold larger firms to account and bring in new legislation “within weeks” that would require all large businesses to include payment reporting in their annual reports.

“Enforcement will also be stepped up on the existing late payment performance reporting regulations which require large companies to report their payment performance twice yearly on GOV.UK,” a government statement said, adding that non-compliant companies could face unlimited fines and criminal records.

BESA said it welcomed the announcements but said the new measures should be “speeded up” and the consultation “fast tracked” in light of the ISG crisis.