Interim chair appointed at WANdisco to help investigate potential fraud
Data activation business, WANdisco, will appoint Kenneth Lever as interim non-exec chair of its Board of Directors and to chair the Investigation Committee supporting a probe currently being undertaken by FRP Advisory.
Earlier this month, the Sheffield-headquartered company suspended trading on the Alternative Investment Market after revealing “potentially fraudulent irregularities.”
Lever will provide leadership and direction to the Board and oversee the strategic direction and corporate governance of the company.
The Investigation Committee comprises the chair and two non-executive directors: Peter Lees, senior independent non-executive director and Karl Monaghan, chairman of the Audit Committee.
WANdisco publicly revealed the potential fraud on 9 March, warning this could result in its sales being 60% lower than expected.
The business said there was a “material uncertainty” regarding its overall financial position and significant going concern issues.
It explained it had discovered “significant, sophisticated and potentially fraudulent irregularities with regard to received purchase orders and related revenue and bookings, as represented by one senior sales employee.”
Lever is an experienced business leader, having held a number of senior executive and non-executive positions within UK-listed firms.
He is currently non-executive director at Vertu Motors plc and Rockwood Strategic plc, as well as deputy chairman of Rainier Developments Limited.
He has recently stepped down as non-executive chairman of Biffa plc and RPS Group plc.
Lever was also a non-executive director at Blue Prism plc, an intelligent automation software business, where he was chair of the Audit Committee.
In his executive career, he was latterly chief executive officer of technology, business services and insurance software business, Xchanging plc.
He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Alliance Manchester Business School and has served on the UK Accounting Standards Committee of the Financial Reporting Council.
