Deloitte in audit driving seat at Go Ahead

TRANSPORT group Go Ahead has appointed Deloitte as auditor to replace incumbents EY.

The audit – worth £700,000 in 2014 – formally morphed to Deloitte following the group’s AGM on October 22 after a three-way battle for the audit prize.

The FTSE 250 company – currently the UK’s largest passenger rail provider and the biggest London bus operator – made the change following a board recommendation.

Non-audit fees paid to other providers during the financial year amassed to £1.5m.

A number of Go Ahead’s operating companies use Grant Thornton as auditor but total fees to the firm during the 2014 financial year were less than £0.1m while non-audit fees also came in under £0.1m.

The group’s internal audit function has been outsourced to PwC on a rolling 12 month contract, with overall responsibility and direction being retained by the audit committee.

In July, Go-Ahead group CFO Keith Down, announced he was steping down to take on the same role at homeware retailer Dunelm.

Down served with the rail and bus operator since 2011, and takes up the Dunelm role at the end of the year, with long-serving finance chief David Stead stepping down after a short handover period.

This week the Newcastle-headquartered group appointed a new chief financial officer, Patrick Butcher, who joins the company from Network Rail , where he has been Group Finance Director since 2009.