After four of the longest weeks of his life, Tesco CEO Dave Lewis can put to bed, at last, his investigation into Tesco’s accounting scandal.

Deloitte has delivered its damning verdict. And though the news is worse than even Lewis would have anticipated - with the extent of the profit overstatement underestimated to the tune of an extra £13m - he can at least get on with the job he was brought in to do, ie coming up with a strategy to rescue Tesco from the hole it’s dug for itself.

But Lewis knows he cannot call the bottom on this crisis. It will take a lot of work, a brilliant strategy and time to get consumers back in the meaningful numbers required.

“There are a lot of questions to be answered - the fate of the suspended Tesco executives being the most obvious”

Adam Leyland, Editor

In the meantime, though the Financial Conduct Authority’s separate investigation means the process of identifying why the profits overstatement happened - and specifically who was and wasn’t responsible - is not his problem, Tesco’s name is certain to be dragged back through the mud.

And for all the exhortations of Lewis to Tesco staff to “carry on doing what we’re doing going into Christmas,” uncertainty will continue to reign, particularly among buyers. As one observed: “My boss is suspended. My boss’s boss is suspended. And I’m not feeling too good myself.”

So there are still a lot of questions to be answered - the fate of the suspended Tesco executives being the most obvious. But the most intriguing questions - and the most damaging outcome of the Deloitte investigation - concern the endemic nature of the practices, which it found had preceded the period of Tesco’s interim results.

That effectively rules out one conspiracy theory that’s been doing the rounds - that the nature of the fallout between former finance director Laurie McIlwee and CEO Philip Clarke was over the practices identified in the Deloitte investigation.

It also isn’t at all helpful to PwC’s cause.

The final question is over liabilities. Warren Buffett has lost $750m. Americans don’t take kindly to losing those sort of sums. What scope is there for him to seek damages? You can be sure he will be launching an investigation all his own.

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