Speedy Hire says no fraud in £20m 'missing' equipment mystery

UK tools and equipment company Speedy Hire said a probe into £20m of missing equipment found no evidence of fraud, but discovered problems with control and accounting procedures.

Speedy on Thursday said in addition to new accounting measures, the board had agreed a remedial plan to further strengthen financial controls for managing non-itemised assets.

“This includes additional counts of the assets and new procedures for reconciling those against its fixed asset register,” Speedy said.

It added that the issue had affected procedures for non-itemised assets “over a number of years, and in particular the reconciliation of such counts to the group's fixed asset register”.

The company launched the investigation in February after discovering missing scaffolding and fencing while preparing for an end of year audit.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com