FEARS have been expressed for workers at a major Worcester shopping development after the collapse of the giant building company Carillion.

The Wolverhampton-based company has been declared insolvent with debts of £1.5 billion, including a £600m pension liability despite working on 450 public sector contracts worth millions if not billions. The company is still listed as being a partner along with Richardson in the St Martin’s Quarter shopping centre, which includes Asda in Lowesmoor. Although workers at shops in the centre won’t be employed by the stricken construction firm, it might be that there are staff employed by the centre’s owners in roles such as security or maintenance.

Carillion’s partners Richardson refused to make any comment on the matter.

St Martin’s Place is in the Cathedral ward of city councillor Lynn Denham.

Cllr Denham said: “They said on the radio that Carillion had gone into liquidation and called it the massive company that nobody has heard of. That’s not the case in Worcester where it’s a very well-known name indeed."

"It’s always very worrying when a company like this goes under, especially if there are people’s jobs at risk, and I hope that it all sorted out very soon.”

The government has said to all of Carillion’s 20,000 employees, many working at sites delivering public services, that they should continue to turn up for work "as usual and [they] will be paid".

More advice is available at gov.uk/government/news/carillion-declares-insolvency-information-for-employees-creditors-and-suppliers

The company was involved in building and managing some of the highest profile private and public sector projects in the country.

It was part of the consortium which built, and still manages, the GCHQ Doughnut in Cheltenham and was working on the HS2 high speed railway project.

In 2012, Worcester City Council made Carillion its partner for any upgrades to houses that it would fund, but the scheme was scrapped in 2015. The company does not provide any other service for the city council or for Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

A Worcestershire County Council spokesperson said: "The council doesn't have any contracts with Carillion or with any of its subsidiaries. We are speaking to our contractors to see if there are any links to Carillion further down the supply chain."