Mistake costs UK government equivalent of $13.6 million
Think making a typo doesn't matter? Think again. Someone's single letter typo cost legal fees of up to £9 million ($13.6 million) and ended a 124-year-old family business.
What was the offending typo in question? The letter "s."
In February 2009, Welsh engineering firm Taylor & Sons learned that
Companies House, the UK government's registrar of companies, had
recorded the company as having gone bust. It hadn't, but Taylor &
Son, a completely different company, had.
The mistake was corrected after three days, but the damage to Taylor
& Sons had already been done. The false details had been passed onto
clients, suppliers, and credit lenders. Orders were cancelled,
contracts were lost, and credit from suppliers was withdrawn. Specific
losses included Taylor & Sons' best customer, Tata Steel, which was
worth £400,000 ($607,000) a month, and a potential £3 million ($4.55
million) contract with the Royal National Lifeboat Institute.
"We lost all our credibility as all our suppliers thought we were in
liquidation. It was like a snowball effect," former managing director
and co-owner Philip Davison-Sebry told The Telegraph.
Within two months of the typo, Taylor & Sons went into
administration (similar to Chapter 11 bankruptcy). Davidson-Sebry sued
and won. On Tuesday, the British High Court found the government liable
for the demise of the business, which could leave taxpayers with a £9
million ($13.6 million) legal bill.
That is one costly typo. Let's hope Companies House has some money leftover to hire a good team of copy editors.
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