Top Service Ltd, of Redditch, UK, said there is a danger that the type of credit reports provided by mainstream credit reference agencies are not wholly relevant to the crane industry.
Top Service director Lisa Cardus said: “There are a large number of credit reference agencies in the UK doing their best to serve a broad spectrum of industry sectors.” However, she added, their information is not always up-to-date enough to meet the needs of the crane hire industry.
Top Service claimed that compared with other industries there are relatively high levels of fraud, insolvency and bad debt in the crane business. “Companies are set up almost as a matter of course and debtors abscond with alarming regularity,” it said.
Recent research also revealed, accoring to Top Service, that there are more county court judgements registered against companies in the construction industry than any other sector in the UK.
Limited companies are required to file a set of accounts every year and most companies have 10 months from their year end date in which to file. This means that if a company’s year end is 31 December their accounts do not actually have to be filed until the following October.
Top Service said around 15% of limited companies file their accounts late, despite fines of up to £5,000 (€7,200).
Cardus added: “The information that a company files in its annual accounts is important. It gives an idea of the size, solvency and profitability of a company.”
However, she warned, the figures can be a year out of date and a lot can happen in the construction industry in the space of a year. For example, annual accounts do not reveal whether a company has just issued a rubber cheque or failed to pay another crane hirer on time.
