Carillion said it had no choice but to go into compulsory liquidation after weekend talks with creditors failed to get the short-term financing it needed to continue operating. ... Britain's government refused to rescue Carillion, saying it could not be expected to bail out a private company.

Why did Carillion go into liquidation and not administration?

Various business commentators have suggested that Carillion went into compulsory liquidation rather than administration because it had no real assets left to sell. It had contracts, but they were either too complex or insufficiently valuable for the banks to lend against.

What caused the collapse of Carillion?

It collapsed in early January under the weight of a £1.5bn debt pile after the government refused to bail out the company. ... Carillion's former directors, though, blamed an unpaid bill owed by Qatar, Brexit uncertainty and problems building the Royal Liverpool Hospital for the company's collapse.