Auditors for North East travel agency Dawson & Sanderson have resigned after saying they did not sign off the company’s accounts.
A bombshell letter of resignation from the company’s long-time auditors Greaves Grindle has been filed at Companies House in which the firm says it did not audit Dawson & Sanderson's accounts, despite partner Jane Harvey’s signature appearing on the document.
Dawson & Sanderson has blamed the row on an “individual error” but said there are “no irregularities or discrepancies” in the accounts. Its accounts show a big fall in revenue as the travel industry suffered a major hit during the pandemic.
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The letter from Ms Harvey says: “It has come to our attention that the company has filed at Companies House, Financial Statements for the year ended August 31 2020 which include an Auditors’ Report purporting to be signed by me; however, this firm has not carried out any such audit on the accounts for the year ended August 31 2020, and I have not signed the filed report.
“We consider it possible that these accounts have also been distributed directly to some creditors and licensing authorities.”
The accounts show that Dawson & Sanderson - one of the country’s largest independent travel agencies - suffered an operating loss of £1.15m for the year ending August 31, 2020, as turnover dropped from £9.78m in 2019 to £4.5m. Gross sales were reported to be £70.2m, down from £143.8m a year earlier, and travel agency sales were £35.2m, down from £77m. Foreign currency sales were £31.3m, a fall from £57.7m in the previous period.
Chris Harrison, managing director at Dawson & Sanderson, said: “An internal review revealed an individual error resulted in the filing of accounts at Companies House when they had not been formally approved. When the board and I became aware of this error we took immediate action and set in place measures to ensure that the correct process will always be followed in the future.
“In recent months we have appointed a new financial director along with new auditors. There are no irregularities or discrepancies in the accounts. Our restated accounts will be available at Companies House in the coming weeks.”
The business declined to say whether the former finance director had left the company and also declined to confirm whether Greaves and Grindle was paid the £32,695 set out as auditors’ remuneration within the accounts. The new auditors are said to be based outside of the region.
Dawson & Sanderson, which employs about 226 people across its head office in Newcastle and a network of 21 branches, was formed in 1962 when the travel industry was in its infancy. The firm, which now boasts of having more than eight million customers, was set up by Thomas Dawson, who worked for his family’s Ashington off-licence business at the time and found a lack of local travel agencies when he wanted to book a holiday.
Mr Dawson approached Colonel Sanderson, of the family that owned Sanderson Arcade, who became a partner in the venture before being bought out a few years later.
Greaves Grindle declined to comment.
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