SHAC attacks Big Four firm

Link: Protesters to descend on Deloitte

A week of orchestrated action against the firm, as part of a demonstration against its financial services and audit work to drug testing company Huntingdon Life Sciences, has been supplemented by the actions of other individuals and organisations over the last seven days.

The firm’s office in Nottingham has been subjected to daily pickets by demonstrators. And the Animal Liberation Front is claiming responsibility for putting a concrete slab through its glass panel front door late last week.

Monday saw the first protests outside the Deloitte & Touche office in the Strand, where Deloitte staff were leafleted over the reasons for the campaign. Other offices subject to demonstrations this week include Liverpool, Milton Keynes and Edinburgh, where protestors claim to have entered and occupied the buildings on occasion. Branches as far away as New Zealand have also seen similar action.

Natasha Avery, spokeswoman for SHAC, said: ‘We’ve been getting a really supportive response from many of the Deloitte employees, especially secretaries and lower management. We expect this to grow as we continue the protests.’

In addition to these demonstrations, SHAC has reported that two Deloitte directors in the Midlands have been targeted at home with leaflets and protestors with megaphones. It also said that a software program has been set up that sends multiple email protest letters to addresses within Deloitte & Touche automatically via an internet messageboard.

Although Deloitte has officially refused to comment on the protest it is understood that various actions have been undertaken to minimise the damage. Various parts of the organisation have blocked access to SHAC’s website while the regional office locator on Deloitte’s UK website has been removed in an attempt to reduce the number of protestors at its sites.