KPMG nets £23m from Courts
KPMG, administrators of the failed furniture retailer Courts, and other advisers have collected more than £35m in fees
KPMG and other advisers to
Courts, the collapsed furniture retailer, have collected more than £35m in fees
since the company went into administration in November 2004.
More than three years after Courts collapsed, the group’s pension fund
remains in limbo and pensioners are facing an uncertain future. Former staff are
still waiting to be paid and the majority of creditors have been warned they are
unlikely to receive a penny.
KPMG has charged £23.7m in fees and expenses. The majority of the fees have
been earned by the accountant’s UK office which has, to date, billed for 55,353
hours of work, collecting £18.5m, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Chris Laverty, a KPMG partner and the Courts administrator, vigorously
rejected suggestions the fees were ‘outrageous’. ‘This was an incredibly complex
administration, involving global corporate finance transactions,’ she said.
‘There were numerous complications.’
