Britain's Nationwide and Lloyds announce Carillion support measures

By Lawrence White and Emma Rumney

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Nationwide Building Society will employ around 250 contractors from failed construction outsourcing company Carillion, the lender said on Thursday, meaning their jobs will be saved.

Lloyds Banking Group meanwhile said it would launch a 50 million pound ($69.40 million) fund to help small businesses within Carillion's supply chain that may be experiencing financial difficulty.

Carillion collapsed on Monday when its banks pulled the plug, forcing the government to step in to guarantee public services provided by the company ranging from school meals to road works.

The 250 contractors being taken on by Nationwide provide services such as cleaning and security.

The statements by Nationwide and Lloyds follow comments by the banking sector's trade body on Wednesday that lenders are offering overdraft extensions and other emergency measures to help firms hit by the collapse of Carillion.

Britain's biggest corporate failure in a decade took place after banks pulled the plug, but UK Finance said lenders were taking steps to ease the impact on small firms affected by the liquidation.

Nationwide said in its statement there were another 1,500 staff engaged by separate, third-party suppliers who work on Nationwide contracts with Carillion.

Those suppliers will now have their contracts directly with the building society, Nationwide said.

Lloyds said small business customers in Carillion's supply chain will be able to apply to have fees on overdrafts and invoice finance facilities waived or for capital repayment holidays on existing loans.

($1 = 0.7205 pounds)

(Editing by Jason Neely and Jane Merriman)