£1.5m dividend for Harrison despite fall into red for A4e

A4E slumped to a £2.1m pre-tax loss last year with former chairman Emma Harrison being paid a £1.5m dividend before she stepped down.

Mrs Harrison was paid the dividend before resigning as chairman of A4e chairman last February.

Her resignation followed a number of fraud allegations against the company. The welfare-to-work firm was subsequently cleared by the Government of the allegations.

However, a separate police investigation by Thames Valley Police into allegations of fraud relating to government schemes is ongoing following the arrest of several former workers, an A4e spokeswoman said.

For the year ended March 31 2012, A4e saw revenues drop to £194.1m compared to £234.3m the previous year. The before tax loss of £2.1m followed a £15.1m profit in 2011, newly filed accounts show.

As well as being paid the dividend, which was well down on what she received the previous year, A4e paid Mrs Harrison’s associated conference management company, Andromeda Park, £188,000, and her husband’s business, Thornbridge, £816,000 for lease of property.

Commenting on the 2011/12 annual results, chief executive Andrew Dutton said “without doubt, this has been an unprecedented year” for the business.

He added: “It has also been one of significant transition. Our Company, as it heads into 2013, is stronger and better for it.

“Since I became CEO in late 2010, I have placed great emphasis on the importance of the quality of our work and the processes that underpin it. This is why we have regular reviews of our governance, compliance and performance.”

Mr Dutton pointed to the appointment of law firm White & Case to conduct an independent review of A4e’s core processes as a marker of its transparency.

“It showed us where we got things right, and where we could and should do better. The review recommended 72 changes – by October we had already implemented 75% of them, and the rest will be implemented during early 2013.”

Mr Dutton added that A4e’s had helped more than 30,000 people into work under the Government’s Work Programme.

However, the payment by results nature of the programme and up-front investment associated with it had been a factor that had hit A4e’s results in 2011/12, he said.