The Scottish chief operating officer of Lookers motors group has resigned after less than a month in the job as the firm investigates claims of fraud.
Cameron Wade had been promoted to the job vacated by Nigel McMinn last November in the wake of an accounting scandal. Wade has been with the group since joining as franchise director for Lookers Audi in December 2016.
This week, Lookers announced it was appointing an external auditor to probe suspect deals in one of its divisions. The group has delayed publication of its annual results pending the investigation.
Last June, the group admitted an investigation instigated by the FCA had found “control issues” in its sales process, which was followed by the departure of McMinn and chief executive Andy Bruce.
The delay was the latest blow to hit a company that was already facing a sales probe by the Financial Conduct Authority. The alleged fraud which the company described as “not material’ was in the operating division of the group and was announced after the stock market closed on Tuesday.
The company’s results, which were due to be announced on Wednesday, will be delayed until April.
Lookers, which runs 164 dealerships all over the UK from its Altrincham headquarters, made no comment on the resignation other than that it would be with immediate effect. This time last year, it reported a 9% fall in pre-tax profits for the year to December 31, 2018. It issued a profit warning in July which forecast pre-tax first half profits to be down by a quarter.
