𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Greggs has delayed the appointment of incoming board director Robert Moorhead due to a review into a major accounting error at his previous firm, WH Smith.

The high street bakery chain said Mr Moorhead – the former finance chief at WH Smith – had asked to delay his appointment until a review by Deloitte into the blunder at WH Smith is completed.

He had been due to start at Greggs on October 1 as an independent non-executive director and chair of the audit committee.

Mr Moorhead left WH Smith in 2024 after more than 20 years at the chain.

The delay to his appointment comes after WH Smith saw nearly £600 million wiped off its stock market value last week when it revealed a review of its finances had discovered trading profits in North America had been overstated by about £30 million.

It warned that annual profits would be lower than expected as a result, sending shares down by more than 40% at one stage during the day.

WH Smith said it had found an issue in how it calculated the amount of supplier income it received – leading it to be recognised too early.

It means the group is now expecting a trading profit for the US of about £25 million for the year to August – a cut from the previous £55 million forecast.

As a result, the company lowered its outlook for annual pre-tax profits to around £110 million.

Greggs said Kate Ferry will remain as a non-executive director and will continue as chair of the audit committee in the interim.