XYZ company
Address line 1,
Address line 2,
Town
Postcode
Office of XYZ MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
Dear XYZ,
I am writing to you, as my Member of Parliament, to ask for your help in solving the issues of poor payment and withholding of monies in construction. I am a constituent and [work for/am a director of] [name of company] which is part of an industry of over 280,000 businesses, where 99 per cent are SMEs, that contribute hundreds of billions every year to UK GDP. Post-Carillion, the fair payments campaign has changed and there is now an urgency alongside moral and economic obligation to act.
I would appreciate if you will please be present at, and support, the 2nd reading of a Ten Minute Rule Bill by your Parliamentary colleague Peter Aldous MP, on April 27th. The Bill seeks to protect monies retained from businesses like mine, for goods and services already supplied, and has support from many trade associations, including [trade association], of which we are a member; I ask you to support this Bill also.
Cash Retention is meant to offer insurance against defects, but is abused across the supply chain. £10.5bn of construction’s £220bn annual turnover is held in retention, with £7.8bn unpaid in the last three years. When monies are held for long periods (often years) SMEs do not have the time, resources or legal skills to chase or recover, and accept it as loss.
BEIS figures also show £700m in retention was lost over the same three years due to insolvencies up the supply chain. In 2018 alone, due to Carillion, this figure has already more than doubled. Payment retentions affect thousands of firms, including my own, and limit our working capital, damage our chance to grow, train apprentices, create jobs, tender for new work, invest in innovation, technology and equipment and is a constant threat to cash flow and jobs.
As a company employing _number_ people locally, I wanted to raise this to your attention, as more needs to be done. Peter Aldous’ Bill is necessary to enact change, provide stability and protect hardworking SMEs. It seeks to place retentions in trust, offering protection from insolvency, and forms part of a wider move to abolish retentions altogether, in due course.
I trust my company, alongside 280,000 UK construction SMEs, can count on your support at the second reading of Mr Aldous’ Bill and its progress in Parliament. I would also be grateful if you could raise this with the Minister, on our behalf, to ensure it is allocated enough time for a second reading.
Thank you in advance for your support and I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
XYZ