Watchdog to probe Ernst & Young’s botched audit of Made

Team effort: Made founders Julien Callede, Chloe Mackintosh and Ning Li 

Ernst & Young may feel the wrath of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) watchdog as it probes the audit of now-bust Made.

The investigation relates to Made’s financial statements for 2021, the e-commerce group’s first year as a publicly traded company.

Made.com was co-founded by entrepreneurs Chloe Mackintosh, Julien Callede, Ning Li and investor Brent Hoberman, who helped set up travel site Lastminute.com. 

As a private company, the online furniture and home decor business enjoyed relative success, launching in 2010 with £8.5million in funding before floating in London over a decade later with a market cap of £775million.

But supply chain problems and the cost-of-living crisis forced it into administration last November before Next bought its website, brand and intellectual property for a measly £3.4million.