A4e rumours quashed

Around the time of the flexible New Deal launch, rumours circulated throughout the industry of financial problems at A4e. Hot on the heels of the collapse of Instant Muscle and Carter & Carter, this didn't seem entirely implausible.

Although A4e is still very much there, the rumours weren't openly discussed or denied. After talking with a few people at the welfare-to-work conference, I spoke with a director at A4e this week to confirm some details. He gave a convincing explanation which included:

• They've been looking for outside investment to finance fND and large-scale worldwide expansion. It would be easy to mistake this for borrowing to cover existing debts. According to this newspaper story, they have minimal current debts and are looking at City investors putting in £30-40m each.
• The OLASS story is partly true - they have been renegotiating at least one large OLASS contract. Their take is that bidding blind was the primary cause of delivery issues, as the lack of parameters meant that they were reliant on funders and stakeholders agreeing a deliverable service once they had won the contract.

I've heard another rumour as to the exact source of the original story, which sadly isn't publishable, but their continued existence and lack of further problems support the picture that A4e paint of financial rude health. Coming next: Working Links.