Catering firm sacks boss after UN contract probe

Catering giant Compass fired the boss of its UK division and two other staff today after an investigation into how UN contracts were awarded raised “serious concerns”.

Compass announced the dismissal of Peter Harris, who also heads operations in the Republic of Ireland, Middle East and Africa, two weeks after he was suspended from work.

It follows an investigation by law firm Freshfields on behalf of Compass into the relationship between its Eurest Support Services (ESS) subsidiary, the United Nations and IHC – a supplier to the UN.

In a statement, Compass said: “The investigation has raised serious concerns as to whether, within ESS, there has been ... improper conduct and a failure to comply with the company’s statement of business principles.”

Mr Harris is a former chief executive of ESS, and Compass has also sacked Andrew Seiwert and a further mid-ranking executive who was associated with UN contracting.

Compass said the investigation by Freshfields, which is being overseen by audit committee chairman Steve Lucas, would continue but it was restructuring the management of ESS in the meantime.

The company added that it was still co-operating with the UN and authorities in the United States over their own wide-ranging investigation into UN contracting procedures.

According to media reports, international investigators want to know if there are links between ESS and Alexander Yakovlev, a UN procurement officer who was arrested in August on suspicion of corruption.