101. Emma Mercer was in post because the board lost faith in Zafar Khan after only nine months as Finance Director. Mr Khan told us that he "spooked" the Carillion board in September 2017 with a presentation he felt gave nothing more than an honest assessment of the company's position.330 Philip Green told us, however, that the board concluded collectively that he was "not close enough to the underlying business unit numbers" and not the "right person" to participate in negotiations with the company's banks.331 Our evidence certainly supports the board's view. In oral evidence, he claimed success in his top priority of reducing the company's debt, before eventually admitting "debt increased through 2017".332 Board minutes from May 2017 show that, when Emma Mercer raised concerns about accounting irregularities, Mr Khan suggested that they showed "incompetence and laziness in the accounting review of the contract".333 As the then Finance Director, this charge lay ultimately at his door. Although he may not have been the architect of those policies, his previous role as group financial controller hardly meant this was a man lacking in experience of how the company operated.
102. Zafar Khan failed to get a grip on Carillion's aggressive accounting policies or make any progress in reducing the company's debt. He took on the role of Finance Director when the company was already in deep trouble, but he should not be absolved of responsibility. He signed off the 2016 accounts that presented an extraordinarily optimistic view of the company's health, and were soon exposed as such.
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330 Q314 [Zafar Khan]; Letter from Zafar Khan to the Chairs, 21 February 2018
331 Letter from Philip Green to the Chairs, 20 February 2018
332 Qq342-44 [Zafar Khan]
333 Carillion plc, Minutes of a meeting of the Board of Directors, 9 May 2017, p 4