The directors of Dunbar Holdings are seeking to win an award for business excellence. As part of the award process, reporting accountants have to assess the business performance against a set of predetermined criteria set out in the award documentation. This covers such matters as HR policy, staff morale, financial solvency, customer satisfaction and compliance with environmental regulations.
The assessment has to be performed by independent reporting accountants who will give an assurance as to compliance with the award rules. Accountancy firm Smashe & Grabbe LLP is to investigate and report. During the course of their work, they discover that staff morale in some parts of the business is very low after some compulsory redundancies. The business was recently fined for illegal dumping of toxic materials and one of their new products is attracting a lot of complaints because it doesn't work very well. However, Dunbar is a large company, and these issues are only a relatively minor part of their operations which are generally good.

Discussion
– What type of assurance is being sought?
– How will the reporting accountants deal with the issues they have uncovered in the context of their report?
– How will the report be worded?