High street travel agency Dawson & Sanderson has filed amended accounts that show that its losses ran significantly deeper than previously reported.
The Newcastle family-owned business has been involved in an accounting issue which saw its former auditor Greaves Grindle resign in May last year, filing a resignation letter at Companies House saying it had not signed off published accounts.
At the time, Dawson & Sanderson said the problem was down to “individual error” and said there were “no irregularities or discrepancies in the accounts”. It said in May that restated accounts would be available in the coming weeks, and they have now been published seven months later.
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The amended accounts show operating losses of £2.58m in the year to the end of August 2020 - double the amount of £1.15m previously reported. There was also a significant change to the turnover figure which was restated at £3.79m compared with £4.51m.
There was also a change to the amount of travel agency sales - first reported at £35.25m and now reported as £37.09m. Meanwhile foreign currency sales were substantially lower than previously stated, reported as £24.51m vs £31.29m in the original accounts.
More than £1.3m of bank loans not previously reported were also shown in the newly published accounts.
A spokesperson for Dawson & Sanderson said: “The revised statements published are related to 2020, which is historical data recorded during a global pandemic that impacted the whole travel industry.
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“With a newly appointed team the opportunity was taken to carry out an in-depth review that would see Dawson & Sanderson restructuring to set itself up for the business to return to full strength once the world opened back up and consumers returned to travel. Performance has since bounced back and sales have returned to pre pandemic levels and we are looking forward to the future ahead.”
Having started in the 1960s, Dawson & Sanderson still operates 21 branches including those in the North East and in Hull, Doncaster and Carlisle and has become one of the country’s largest independent travel agencies.
The firm was set up by Tom Dawson, who worked for his family’s Ashington off-licence business at the time and found a lack of local travel agencies when he wanted to book a holiday. In recent years the business has made efforts to capture online market share with a website that offers luxury, budget, cruise and adventure holidays.
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