Failing to Proofread Could Cost You £8.8m

Call Us On: +44(0)1449 779605

Failing to Proofread Could Cost You £8.8 Million

February 19^th 2015 Sally Ormond importance of proofreading, proofreading, the cost of not proofreading

Proofreading

Really?

£8.8 million?

I kid you not.

A recent article in The Guardian reported how a simple proofreading blunder has cost Companies House £8.8 million.

What did they do?

Add an erroneous “s”.

In 2009, Companies House recorded information stating that Taylor & Sons Ltd (a 124 year old Welsh engineering firm employing more than 250 people) had been wound up.

This resulted in orders being cancelled, contracts being lost and credit from suppliers being withdrawn.

The error led to the company going into administration and being dissolved in 2014.

Companies House should have recorded the information under Taylor & Son Ltd - a completely different company.

Even though, 3 days after the error, Companies House corrected the information it was too late and the damage had been done because the information had spread across the internet like wildfire.

Taylor & Sons Ltd obviously sued Companies House and were awarded £8.8m.

That’s a hell of a lot of money for an “s”.

The moral of the story is to check, double check, triple check and then check again before you publish anything on or off line.

This is an extreme case, but goes to show what a moment of carelessness can do.

You have been warned.