Extent of Dome crisis revealed

Extent of Dome crisis revealed

The Millennium Dome was insolvent until its most recent lottery handout of £47m, according to the controversial PricewaterhouseCoopers report that helped prompt Japanese finance house Nomura to withdraw its offer to purchase the ailing government project.

According to the secret report, passed to the Sunday Times, the ‘culture . . . of financial control’ meant that the Dome operators had no idea of what it owed or had paid for.

The report also disclosed that sponsors, including McDonald’s and British Airways, still owe £5m.

‘The report, commissioned by David James, the dome’s new chairman, admits that many invoices have gone unpaid for months and that staff may take industrial action against further cuts,’ the paper said.

Nomura was not allowed to see a copy of the report before its withdrawal, although it was told of the main elements.

But the financier is believed to have thought those details were sufficiently worrying to withdraw from the prospective its £105m deal to turn the dome into a working theme park.

The National Audit Office is expected to submit its report on the dome’s finances later this month.

PwC declined to comment this morning.

Sunday Times: Secret dome report lays bare true scale of financial chaos

Report in full

Millennium Dome FD tipped to resign

Share

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Resources & Whitepapers

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata
Professional Services

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

3y

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folde...

In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...

View resource
2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

3y

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professi...

In recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...

View resource
Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine
Accounting Firms

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

3y

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

In a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...

View resource
Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021
Making Tax Digital

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

3y

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

The first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...

View resource