Land Securities swaps auditor after 69 years

Land Securities, the property giant which is redeveloping London's Victoria, has parted company with its auditor for the first time since the group was formed 69 years ago.

Without any pre-announcement, Land Securities said that Ernst & Young had been appointed as its auditor immediately and that PricewaterhouseCoopers had resigned after an unpublicised competitive tender process led by its chairman, Alison Carnwath.

This is the first auditor change by a FTSE 100 company since the Competition Commission rapped the Big Four accountants for not doing a good enough job, It found almost a third of the top 100 companies had not changed auditors for at least 20 years.

Martin Greenslade, chief financial officer of Land Securities, said: "We chose Ernst & Young as their specialist property practice can provide a global perspective on the property sector. I'd like to thank PwC for their highly professional service over many years."