Audit tenders invited for Diana fund.
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund has put its audit contract out to tender in a move designed to prove its professional advisers are selected competitively.
Adverts calling firms to tender for audit, tax and other financial services were placed last week. PricewaterhouseCoopers is the fund’s current auditor and plans to retender.
Chief executive Andrew Purkis said putting the work – worth around £100,000 a year – out to tender was not due to poor performance by PwC.
‘It is good practice to show our services are based on competitive tender and transparency,’ he said. The fund is believed to be targeting the mid-tier accountancy firms. One mid-tier partner said his firm had been approached.
Last June’s publication of the fund’s annual accounts provoked controversy over the cost of its professional advice. PricewaterhouseCoopers, which earned £417,000 from the fund for its work, was among the firms named.