E&Y's Bloom gears up for transport committee clash

Top administrator and Ernst & Young partner Alan Bloom is to appear before MPs next week as parliamentary scrutiny of the Metronet debacle steps up a gear.

The transport select committee has called in Bloom, who is handling the administration of the collapsed tube upgrade operator, to speak to MPs next Wednesday.

The session could provoke awkward questions for the profession over the PPP deal, which has earned several Big Four firms as much as £25m in advisory work.

E&Y itself advised London Underground and the Department for Transport on the deal, as well as carrying out the administration. PricewaterhouseCoopers earned the bulk of advisory fees, according to information released by the government at different stages.

Bloom is one of the best-known figures in business recovery, having worked on the Railtrack administration before his work at Metronet. The Railtrack case means he will be familiar with high-profile and politically contentious company administrations.
The parliamentary session is also likely to shed light into the prospects for the troubled tube upgrade group.

Last week the administrators oversaw a management clearout that led to five Metronet executives, including CFO Philip Pacey leaving the company.

Bloom and his team received an offer from Transport for London for Metronet last week, but the details of the bail-out package have been kept closely under wraps after a confidentiality clause was signed between the two parties.

On TfL’s offer, E&Y said: ‘This will be reviewed by the PPP Administrators and a response to TfL will be made over the coming week or so.’