Main contractors withholding payments from subcontractors are guilty of "organised crime" a committee of MPs has been told, writes Vern Pitt. The MPs also heard claims this week that contracting giant Balfour Beatty's standard contract is "onerous" and subcontractors would be "mad to work under it" Giving evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Inquiry into late payments to small and medium-sized businesses (SME) on Tuesday (23 April), Steve Paul, managing director of SDP Floor Screeds, recalled how main contractors withholding payments totalling £1.2m had sent his separate plastering business, which he had built up over 25 years, into administration.
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