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and fair view,
and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the
preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or
error.
In preparing the financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the company’s ability
to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using
the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the company or to
cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole
are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report
that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee
that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement
when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually
or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users
taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Explanation as to what extent the audit was considered capable of detecting
irregularities, including fraud
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design
procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect irregularities, including fraud. The
risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one
resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or
intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion. The extent to which our procedures are capable
of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below.
However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with both those
charged with governance of the company and management.
•
We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to
the company and determined that the most significant are the financial reporting framework,
tax legislation, and permissions and supervisory requirements of the listing authorities in the
UK (London Stock Exchange) and US (New York Stock Exchange) where the Company’s
debt is listed. We understood how the Company is complying with those frameworks by
making inquiries of management and those responsible for legal and compliance matters.
•
We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material
misstatement, including how fraud might occur by considering the controls that the company
has established to address the risks identified by the entity, or that otherwise seek to prevent,
deter or detect fraud.
•
Based on this understanding we designed our audit procedures to identify non-compliance
with such laws and regulations. Our procedures involved considering the fraud risk within the
valuation of the intercompany loan balances.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the
Financial Reporting Council’s website at https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities.
This
description forms part of our auditor’s report.
Other matters we are required to address
We were appointed by the company on 23 May 2024 to audit the financial statements for the year
ending 31 December 2023 and subsequent financial periods.
The period of total uninterrupted engagement including previous renewals and reappointments is 2
years, covering the years ending 31 December 2023 and 31 December 2024.