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A glazing contractor which has worked with Balfour Beatty for more than a decade is refusing to work for the firm in protest at its payment practices.
According to today鈥檚 Daily Telegraph, Steve Sutherland, chairman of Dortech, is sacrificing 拢5m - more than 40% of his company鈥檚 拢12m turnover - because he alleges that Balfour Beatty鈥檚 approach risks putting suppliers 鈥渙ut of business鈥�.
He told the paper: 鈥淲e鈥檝e done 80 projects for them so this hurts us a lot. I鈥檇 love to work for them again but we just can鈥檛 take the risk.鈥�
Sutherland claimed that Balfour Beatty鈥檚 payment practices have caused Dortech to make a loss on a number of recent projects.
He acknowledged the issue is not isolated to Balfour Beatty, but said subcontractors are usually too afraid to speak out against contractors with poor payment practices.
He told the paper: 鈥淭hey exploit their financial clout. It鈥檚 not illegal, but morally, ethically? I have my view. I don鈥檛 think elephants worry about stepping on ants.鈥�
He also hit out at the process of valuing work and at 鈥渨ithholding notices鈥�.
鈥淭he whole process is used as an excuse to avoid paying, drive the cost of the project down and improve their cash-flow. Do they care about the unintended consequences, which is the risk of putting people out of business?鈥� Sutherland said.
He said he believed the management of Balfour Beatty is 鈥渨ell- intentioned鈥� but claimed that the pressure on project managers to cut costs is resulting in damaging 鈥渦nintended consequences鈥�.
A spokesperson for Balfour Beatty said the company 鈥渋s committed to its supply chain and is at the forefront of government and industry initiatives supporting the well-being of our suppliers鈥�.

The spokesperson added: 鈥淏alfour Beatty has had a long standing valued relationship with Dortech, spanning many projects over 13 years.  Dortech has recently completed six schools under the BSF programme with Balfour Beatty.  These contracts were completed in August 2012 with the last of these accounts agreed early in November 2012.鈥�