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Accountancy firm BDO has said that it will not be advising Borders nor act as its administrator should an administration occur because of a "conflict of interest". The administrator had been reportedly lined up by Borders UK to act should the retailer fall into administration.
However, a spokesperson said this morning: "We will not be advising Borders UK in the future. We will not be acting as administrators if indeed the business goes into administration. This is due to a conflict we have uncovered that will prevent us working with them."
The spokesperson refused to discuss what the conflict was but said it has robust and thorough" processes to identify risks in dealing with any administration process. It is understood that this is not an unusual situation.
An administration is still likely to occur within the next few days, according to sources. This morning, Reuters reported that it had seen "court documents" confirming the chain had been put into administration but has since changed its report. It is unclear whether Borders UK has lined up another company to offer advice on administration.
As The Bookseller reported yesterday the Publishers Association led a last ditch-attempt to re-establish trading with the chain on behalf of the industry. All the big four publishers have ceased trading with the chain over the last few days. Simon Juden, chief executive of the Publishers Association, said today: "Publishers remain committed to support Borders, if that's something Borders would like us to do."