The Construction (Retention Deposit Schemes) Bill seeks to put an end to the practice of withholding payments for unreasonable lengths of time and to eliminate the risk of losing retentions via contractor bankruptcy.

AAT is the 80th body to back the Aldous Bill, bringing the number of businesses and self-employed professionals that the coalition represents to over 550,000.

The coalition includes the FSB, Institute of Directors, British Chambers of Commerce and founding members BESA, ECA and SEC Group.

Conservative MP Peter Aldous first introduced the Bill to put retentions in secure deposit schemes just six days before the collapse of Carillion. The Bill now has support from over 150 Conservative, SNP, Plaid Cymru, DUP, Green, Liberal Democrat and Labour MPs.

Peter Aldous MP said: “To have a body from the finance and accounting world on board is great. It confirms the economic value Retention Deposit Schemes would have, the day-to-day benefit it would lead to for thousands of small businesses and the clear industry appetite for reform. 

“AAT represent a diverse range of financial experts, from blue-chip corporate giants and public sector institutions to micro-businesses and everything in between. I am very pleased to welcome them as the 80th organisation to back my Bill.”

Mark Farrar, AAT chief executive added: “AAT is very pleased to support this much needed and long overdue campaign. Retentions seriously impact on the productivity of SMEs and in some cases their viability. They also serve to increase the overall cost of construction. 

“Billions of pounds of SME cash is tied up in retentions that are held for unreasonable amounts of time. That is money which could be better put to use helping SMEs survive, grow and succeed. AAT therefore supports moves to ensure retentions are placed in a government-backed scheme, similar to the way shorthold tenancy deposits are currently saved.”