CAPA’s auditors have been instructed to undertake audits on a hairdressing school originally founded by Vidal Sassoon more than 60 years ago.
Leonard Curtis Business Rescue and Recovery, the administrators of Haircare Ltd which operates the Sassoon Academy, have appointed CAPA to conduct a rates and property audit on prime sites occupied by the salons and its academies.
The business began to establish its name as one of the country’s premier hairdressing schools in the 1960s, a few years after Vidal Sassoon opened his first salon in London's West End in 1954.
In the past 18 months however the business had been hit on various fronts.
Due to ongoing closures of its sites through the pandemic, restrictions around government support programmes beyond the furlough scheme and the lack of viability for the company, Haircare Ltd sought advice from Leonard Curtis on rescuing the business via a sale process.
Ultimately Neil Bennett and Andy John, of Leonard Curtis Business Rescue and Recovery, were appointed administrators on May 6. They were able to sell certain parts of the business and its assets upon their appointment via a pre-pack sale.
They have since requested CAPA to conduct the audit, meaning CAPA’s Audit team will undertake a forensic analysis of business rates paid out at the salons, as well as property costs including utility bills, broadband payments and service charges.
The team will inspect the information to discover any anomalies or errors, before recovering any overpaid sums for the creditors.
Sassoon sold his business interests in 1980 before the business was acquired by US haircare firm Regis in the early 2000s.