07 June 2002
Experts in London's Square Mile say such a drastic step is possible, especially if politicians felt it necessary to shore up confidence in the public-private partnership market.
'It would do Jarvis very considerable damage. It could be placed on a public sector blacklist. Such a thing is not unknown and could happen here,' one financier told Public Finance. 'This is a serious problem for Jarvis and may well impact on its position in the Private Finance Initiative market.'
Jarvis is a major player in the field. It is especially strong in providing accommodation services and maintains educational facilities for some 100,000 school and university students.
Its share price, however, has fluctuated wildly since the train crash on May 10, which killed seven people and injured more than 80.
Jarvis was responsible for maintaining the stretch of track that covered the faulty set of points that caused the accident, according to an interim Health and Safety Executive report. A second report will be published in the next few weeks.
Jarvis, however, says the points were properly maintained and checked the day before the crash. It claims sabotage is to blame for the disaster.
PFjun2002
