Here it is, then, six years after the collapse of Carillion: the UK’s response to the massive governance failure at a major government contractor that folded only six months after its first profits warning. From 2026 – so after yet more delay – the boards of quoted companies with a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange will have to declare that their firms’ internal controls are up to scratch.
If this rule change sounds like a watery imitation of what was promised in the aftermath of the Carillion fiasco, you’d be right. Back then, there was a zeal to take radical measures to reform the responsibilities of company directors, as well as to shake up the entire audit industry and the audit regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). Instead, in terms of what will be required of directors, we’ve ended up with a tweak to the UK corporate governance code.
