MPs have accused Britain's 'Big Four' accountancy and audit firms of "feasting" on the carcass of collapsed industry services firm, Carillion.

A joint inquiry by two Select Committees has published the fees collected by KPMG, PwC, Deloitte and EY from the company over the last 10 years, which reveals the firms billed Carillion, the pension schemes and the Government more than £71 million for services relating to the company.

Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, Frank Field MP, said: "The image of these companies feasting on what was soon to become a carcass will not be lost on decent citizens.

"We saw at the end of our evidence session that the former directors of Carillion are, unlike their pensioners, suppliers and employees, alright. These figures show that, as ever, the Big Four are alright too. All of them did extensive – and expensive – work for Carillion.


"PWC managed to play all three sides – the company, pension schemes and the Government – to the tune of £21 million and are now being paid to preside over the carcass of the company as Special Managers. It was perhaps telling that, with their three fellow oligarchs conflicted, PWC were appointed to this lucrative position without any competition."

Rachel Reeves MP, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee, said KPMG has "serious questions" to answer about the company's collapse.

The firm audited Carillion's accounts every year since the company’s inception in 1999, receiving £29.4m fees in the process. It was quizzed in-depth in regard to their last audit of the 2016 accounts, when Carillion was signed off as a "going-concern" only to reveal a £845m contract write down and profit warning months later. The company then collapsed into administration on 15 January.

Ms Reeve said: "KPMG has serious questions to answer about the collapse of Carillion. Either KPMG failed to spot the warning signs, or its judgement was clouded by its cosy relationship with the company and the multi-million pound fees it received.

"For the sake of all those who lost their jobs at Carillion and in the interests of better corporate governance, KPMG should, as a bare minimum, review its processes and explain what went wrong."

(LM/MH)