B&B fee 'even higher' than Northern Rock

A leading shareholder activist has predicted the valuer appointed to put a price tag on Bradford & Bingley will earn more than the £4.5m fee BDO Stoy Hayward secured for the Northern Rock job.

Last week, the Treasury invited bids for the lucrative work, but Roger Lawson, board member of the UK Shareholders’ Association, warned the task would be even tougher than the Northern Rock valuation.

‘I suspect the fees for valuing B&B will be even higher,’ said Lawson, a member of the B&B Shareholders Action Group. ‘I would imagine the issues will be just as complicated and the valuer will have to communicate with a lot more shareholders.’

The Treasury has warned of potential conflicts of interest that block firms from being appointed ­ but BDO has not ruled out making a tender despite its Northern Rock win. ‘It will be for the Treasury to decide if we are conflicted,’ a BDO spokeswoman said.

Unlike Northern Rock, the B&B compensation scheme order does not insist the bank is treated as unable to continue as a going concern and already in administration, but Lawson still believed the 933,000 shareholders were unlikely to receive much compensation.

The Treasury declined to say if it had received any tenders or the approximate price tag for the valuation.