Has the UK Made Progress on Audit Reform?

In a recent opinion article in the Financial Times, journalist Helen Thomas reviews progress made since the 2018 collapse of Carillion, a prominent UK construction and facilities management company. The failure followed from what many have criticized as poor management and sloppy accounting, ultimately costing British taxpayers over one hundred million pounds. In the five years since the firm’s collapse, Thomas laments, the shortcomings in audit quality and corporate governance that were revealed in the course of the scandal have yet to be resolved.

The company's rapid decline, which occurred shortly after auditors gave it a clean bill of health, caused significant upheaval, as Carillion had been relied upon for many essential services, such as road-building, hospital-construction, and the provision of school meals. The government was forced to spend £150 million to maintain these essential services, while a complex supply chain of 30,000 companies and subcontractors was left in limbo. Nearly 3,000 employees lost their jobs, and 27,000 were left reliant upon the pensions industry lifeboat.