Battersea Power Station misreporting claims scrutinised by accounting watchdog
The City’s accounting watchdog is scrutinising claims of financial misreporting at Battersea Power Station after the former chief executive alleged he was dismissed from his role for blowing the whistle on inflated property valuations, Morning Wire understands.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is reportedly looking at claims made by the former boss of the iconic London landmark, Don O’Sullivan, relating to the value of undeveloped plots of land at the site.
The FRC’s probe, however, does not yet constitute a formal investigation, sources told Morning Wire.
O’Sullivan has said he blew the whistle in November 2024. He alleged that he was excluded from the business the next day by two of the executives who were the subject of his disclosures, and that he was subsequently suspended the following month on 24 December.
The former boss raised concerns over the internal accounts of Battersea Power Station’s sister company, Battersea Power Station Holding, which had allegedly overvalued the plots of undeveloped land at hundreds of millions of pounds higher than independently estimated amounts.
Former boss hit owners with court action
O’Sullivan, formerly of leading London property developer Galliard Homes, launched legal action against the owners of the iconic City Landmark in March after he was dismissed from his role in May.
The former boss took up his role as chief executive of Malaysian-owned Battersea Power Station Development Company in June 2024 to lead the next phase of its development but was then dismissed less than a year later.
He filed the legal action against the group and four senior Malaysian executives, using John Hayes, founder of Constantine Law, and the GMB union’s support, at the London South Employment Tribunal.
In the claim, O’Sullivan said he couldn’t do his job properly because the company was covering its expenses and inflating property values to avoid taking an upfront hit to profits.
O’Sullivan alleged he was fired on charges of gross misconduct after he raised the concerns of serious financial misreporting and blew the whistle.
The FRC declined to comment. Battersea Power Station, and Battersea Power Station Holdings did not respond to a request for comment. The Financial Times first reported the news.