We asked the witnesses what lessons they had learned about companies’ resilience across the economy from supporting them during the pandemic. The Treasury told us that it had learned the “importance of departments having a good sectoral understanding, understanding the nature of their sectors and things like the composition of their sectors”. The Treasury and Department for Business and Trade told us that, prior to the pandemic, knowledge of some sectors was “mixed” and they “did not know some almost at all”. However, they said that departments now have a much better understanding of their sectors and have been building those relationships.33 Given the current high levels of insolvencies across the economy, we asked the witnesses if there were any particular sectors giving cause for concern. The Treasury told us that there was “no one sector that seems to be more in trouble than any others”.34 We were told by the Cabinet Office that “16% of insolvencies are in construction” but “construction is usually held as the most fragile sector” due to low margins and complex working capital arrangements. The Cabinet Office explained how it has built resilience into this sector by introducing a prompt payment exclusion to prohibit companies from bidding for contracts if they do not pay their suppliers promptly.35 Understanding risks when contracting