£15bn National Grid to appoint Deloitte as auditor

The £15 billion international gas and electricity giant National Grid is set to appoint Big 4 firm Deloitte as its auditor for the year ending 31 March 2018.

The move will see the firm take over the account from fierce rivals PwC, the current auditor, in just the latest round of skirmishes between the main players in the UK accountancy sector.

Competitive tender

The change by National Grid follows on from a competitive tender process that was overseen by its audit committee. This resulted in a recommendation approved by its board to award its statutory audit contract to Deloitte this time round.

PwC had held the audit worth £13.6m since 2002 and will continue to undertake it until the year ending 31 March 2017, although this is subject to reappointment by shareholders at the National Grid's July 2016 Annual General Meeting.

The following year, the Annual General Meeting will see the recommendation of Deloitte put forward to National Grid's shareholders for approval in July 2017.

Robust and comprehensive

The chairman of National Grid's audit committee, Mark Williamson, said: "We are pleased to have conducted a robust and comprehensive audit tender process which included meetings with members of the board and senior finance managers, references, written submissions and formal presentations to the audit committee.

Citing the principal evaluation criteria behind the change as audit quality, team experience and cultural fit, Williamson went on to thank PwC for their "significant contribution" as National Grid's auditors since 2002.