Ex-Allied chief carpeted over accounts
The former managing director of Allied Carpets has been disqualified as a director for seven years over accounting irregularities which over-inflated sales at the company by more than £6m.
Raymond Anthony Nethercott of 29 Vicarage Wood Way, Tilehurst, Reading, was disqualified after a Department of Trade and Industry investigation found he had ‘knowingly inflated sales figures in accounting records, giving an untrue picture of the state of company finances and profits.’
This practice, also known as ‘pre-despatching’, dated from 1992 to 1998 and was discovered in an internal audit in July 1998.
Allied overstating sales by more than Pounds 6m, boosting profits by more than Pounds 2m.
Nethercott denied involvement in the practice, and parted company with Allied in 1999.
In a statement, the DTI said: ‘The investigation found Mr Nethercott responsible for the policy of pre-despatching which was in breach of company accounting policy; the practice had been deliberately concealed from the company’s auditors and the company’s published accounts were consequently misleading and failed to comply with company law – Section 226 of the Companies Act 1985. Poor company operating practices were blamed for the practice continuing unchecked for so long.’
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