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Carter & Carter has contracts with most of the big car manufacturing companies, including Ford and Volkswagen.

It acts as the manufacturers’ training arm, effectively providing apprenticeships for aspiring mechanics, but it is paid directly by government agencies, such as the Learning and Skills Council.

Company sources said that Carter & Carter may have been booking some of its contracts as revenue once training deals were signed rather than when money was paid into its accounts.

The company said yesterday that it was still at a loss to “accurately assess its financial position”.

The statement will be a blow to Carter & Carter’s shareholders, including Fidelity, which holds a 10.5 per cent stake, and the British Steel Pension scheme, a 3 per cent shareholder.

Carter & Carter said yesterday: “The company is currently in discussions with its banks regarding its financial position and is renegotiating its bank facilities to reflect its revised level of profitability.”

It told investors in July that it was on course to make £10.5 million of pre-tax profits before adjustments for exceptional costs. Analysts estimated that Carter & Carter’s net debts stood at £116 million.

Only two weeks before Mr Carter’s death, he delivered a 25 per cent rise in the company’s first-half profits.

Commenting on the market for Government-backed training schemes, he said: “The market is huge.”

The company, which employs 2,566 staff, floated on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in February 2005 with its shares priced at 235p and raised £35 million.

The shares hit a high of £12.73 shortly before Mr Carter’s death.

Learning curve

1992 Phillip Carter founds Carter & Carter, running it from his bedroom

1997 Carter & Carter wins contract for Audi’s UK training academy

2001 Sells a 47 per cent stake in business to Bridgeport, the venture capitalist

2002 Phillip Carter made honorary vice-president of Chelsea FC

2005 Carter & Carter buys AA technical services division

2005 Floats on the London Stock Exchange

2006 Buys Fern Group, giving it government training contracts to help the unemployed and disabled

May 2007 Phillip Carter, his son and two others killed in helicopter crash

October 2007 Shares suspended pending “clarification of its financial position”

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