The Big Five firm is the receiver for Midlands car parts supplier UPF and has been attempting to force Land Rover into making an upfront payment of £45m for UPF to deliver chassis for the company’s Discovery model – a request it has furiously rejected.
David Buchler, vice-president of R3 claims KPMG is simply maximising returns for creditors while Ford – Land Rover’s owner – is reaping the rewards of being able to ‘aggressively manipulate their relationships with component or service providers’.
According to Buchler the aggressive action of Land Rover is part of a trend that is ‘damaging’ for the rescue prospects of British businesses.
Casting doubt on Land Rover’s claims of being a ‘victim’ in the debacle, Buchler said: ‘It is undoubtedly true that insolvency practitioners in these circumstances will negotiate as aggressively as they can. It is less often true that the customer is the victim in these circumstances.’
A spokesman for KPMG commented that it feels its actions are justified. A Land Rover spokesman said: ‘Land Rover is not connected with UPF’s failure. We’ve been an excellent customer.’