Scottish & Newcastle brew up claim against PwC

Scottish & Newcastle brew up claim against PwC

Big Four leader facing law suit potentially worth millions after drinks giant found fault with its management consultancy advice

Scottish
and Newcastle
 is waging a legal battle against PwC, alleging that the firm’s
management consultancy advice led to the brewer issuing a damaging profits
warning.

The claim was filed last year, in relation to PwC’s advice on the
restructuring of supply arrangements at the brewer’s UK-based Scotco subsidiary
between 2001 and 2003.

PwC was first retained
in 1998 to consult on a strategic review of the brewer’s Scotco supply chain,
which led to designs for a ‘radical restructuring’ over the course of four to
five years, court documents outlined.

Europe’s second most profitable drinks business has claimed that associated
costs of the restructuring spiralled, forcing them to issue a profits warning
which led to a share slump. S&N alleged it was told that the scheme would
generate annual revenue savings of £35m per year by year four, but the brewer
abandoned the operation after the costs rocketed.

S&N drafted in PwC at a cost of about £10m for the advisory work, the
FT reported.

PwC said of the action: ‘We believe it is unfortunate that this has come to
litigation. It would be inappropriate to comment further.’

Related links:

Moore Stephens facing £90m claim

Ferox suing E&Y for early filing of its accounts

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