ASB backs sacked Mirror man

ASB backs sacked Mirror man

Ric Piper, former WS Atkins finance director appears to have safeguarded his position on the Accounting Standards Board's Urgent Issue Task Force despite speculation that his involvement in the company's recent calamitous profit warning cost him a job with media group Trinity Mirror.

Link: Trinity Mirror FD loses job before it begins

Mary Keegan, chairman of the ASB, confirmed that Piper was still a member of the UITF, and said that he had not given any sign of an intention to resign, And she indicated that he would not be forced out.

‘People occasionally lose their job,’ said Keegan. ‘It happens to the best of us from time to time but that has no bearing on whether they are on a task force or not.’

Piper could receive up to £300,000 in compensation for his aborted position as finance director at Trinity Mirror, which was taken away from him the day before he was due to join.

Trinity Mirror blocked Piper’s arrival after Atkins accrued a huge amount of debt – £63m in six months – and the problematic introduction of a new technology system. Last week’s trading statement by Atkins, which saw profit expectations revised from £40m to £15m, caused its share price to crash by 72%. The impact that the problems with billing and control had on Atkins’ estimated figures were seen as part of the remit of the finance director, and this, according to Trinity Mirror, made Piper’s appointment ‘no longer appropriate’.

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