Tesco bosses and ex-chief Philip Clarke could now face a grilling from MPs on the Business Select Committee
Already facing scrutiny from the public, investors and financial regulators, Tesco may now have to explain itself to parliament.
Business Select Committee chair Adrian Bailey called Tesco’s accounting error “stratospheric” and said bosses at the supermarket could face a grilling from MPs.
Tesco chief Dave Lewis, chairman Sir Richard Broadbent, ex-chief Philip Clarke and auditor PWC could all be hauled in front of the committee to face questions about how the world’s third largest retailer ended up with a £250m black hole in its accounts.
Bailey also warned the wider retail industry could face questions over the issue and their relationships with suppliers, which is believed to have caused the error at Tesco, speaking to the BBC.
"We may well as a committee want to look at this. Not just at Tesco but at what is going on in the retail industry and in the relationship with the suppliers to see if the issues we came across two years ago are still there," he said.
Bailey said the revelation that Tesco has had no finance chief in place for six months was “unbelievable”.
The committee will wait for the outcome of Tesco's own investigation before deciding whether to call executives to give evidence.