Rover enquiry drags on, fours years and £15m later

Apr 16 2009 by Andy Richards, Birmingham Mail

THE Government is powerless to intervene in a four-year inquiry into the collapse of Rover, which has cost almost £15 million and has no end in sight.

Ministers and officials in the Department for Business and Enterprise fear any interference could lead to claims that it has not been impartial.

It has held ten meetings in the past year with accountants conducting the inquiry, to “discuss progress”. But they will not go further and ask the inspectors to hurry up, as this could provide grounds for former Rover directors to challenge the findings.

Ministers appointed forensic accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward to comb Rover’s accounts following the collapse in 2005.

But the investigation, originally expected to last 18 months, has still not published its findings.

One question the inquiry is expected to answer is whether the four Rover directors, who bought the carmaker for £10 in 2000, were partly responsible for its downfall. John Towers, Peter Beale, Nick Stephenson and John Edwards were widely criticised for taking millions out of the company before it collapsed, leaving 6,500 workers without jobs.