An investigation into the “disappearance” of more than £20m of equipment and Speedy has found that it was all to do with errors in its controls and accounting procedures.
The Speedy board ordered an investigation in February after a company-wide stock take, conducted in preparation for an upcoming audit, found a £20.4m shortfall in its inventory of non-itemised hire assets. [See our previous report here.]
Non-itemised hire assets are things like scaffolding towers, fencing and non-mechanical plant that does not have a unique serial identifier and is not tracked on an individual asset basis.
Following completion of the investigation the board has concluded that the issue was not the result of any systemic fraud perpetrated on the company by its staff or third parties. In fact, it resulted from problems with the company's controls and accounting procedures for non-itemised assets over a number of years – “and in particular the reconciliation of such counts to the group's fixed asset register,” the company said
New controls have now been put in place.
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