Public audit mutual one step closer
Future public audit mutual DA Partnership has appointed a secretary, a concrete move towards an Audit Commission spin-off
DA PARTNERSHIP, the company set up to house a post-Audit Commission mutual, has appointed a secretary and changed its registered office address.
The move indicates progress on the planned public audit employee-owned enterprise, which is being led by the commission’s head of audit, Gareth Davies.
Davies is on secondment from the public body while he works on the fledgling firm, which could be establish itself as the fifth largest audit provider in the UK.
DA Partnership suffered a blow recently when the commission announced a limit on the number of audits that can be won by a single firm, effectively slashing the mutual’s hiring potential.
At most, 50% of the commission’s current audit staff could move to the mutual, after it was revealed that firms can win at most 40% of the available market.
Davies was stoical in the face of the revelation, musing: “For any new company, entering the market with a 70% share would be brave – not all new companies would want such a significant share.”
Today’s appointment of a secretary indicates Davies is moving forward on the mutual, but further information on funding and administrative matters will not emerge until the details have been finalised.