East Kilbride-based five-a-side football pitch business Goals Soccer Centres has hired advisers to assess future options, which could see a sale of the listed firm.

Reports have suggested that the group, which had its shares suspended in March over a major accounting blunder, could be set for a sale within months.

Goals has now confirmed that it is engaging with Deloitte to review future strategy, as discussions continue to take place with HMRC over its finances.

In March, Goals announced that the accounting errors were so far estimated at £12 million, with the issue dating back several years.

READ MORE: Football firm warns accounting blunder will hit 2019 results

It warned in early March over a material hit to 2018 profits after uncovering the accounting errors as part of a business review.

Retail tycoon Mike Ashley is the largest shareholder in the sports venue business, holding an 18.9 per cent stake, and has been tipped as a potential bidder to buy the company outright.

Goals, which has 50 sites in the UK and US, had a market share of £20 million when its shares were suspended.

Last month, Goals warned over its results for both 2018 and 2019 following the VAT misdeclaration, and said it may not be able to complete its 2018 audit by its June 30 deadline.

Despite the warning, it gave assurances that talks with lenders "remain positive" and added that current trading has continued to be strong in the UK and US.

It was also dealt a blow last month with news that boss Andy Anson plans to quit after a year to become the new chief executive of the British Olympic Association.

The company has also today confirmed the appointment of Mike McGill as interim chief financial officer, replacing Martin Johnson who has been in the interim role since January 2019.

Mr McGill, who has previously worked at Baxter's food Group, McDonald Hotels and the Murray Group, will take over the role on July 31.

Tesco has revealed that it is testing a delivery robot, as it detailed a raft of new ideas for the supermarket's future development.

In a Capital Markets Day for analysts, the supermarket said it was looking to save costs and serve customers better by working with technology companies on the shopping experience.

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One collaboration is with Starship, a US-based company which makes autonomous delivery devices which can carry items within a four-mile radius.

Tesco is testing the use of the devices at its Milton Keynes stores which allow local customers to place an order via an app.

The Co-operative has previously announced that it is trialling deliveries using the Starship robots in Milton Keynes.

It comes as food retailers increasingly turn to local solutions to provide fast delivery for customers, with Ocado trialling its one-hour Zoom service this year while Amazon and Morrisons extended their same-day deliveries to more UK cities this month.

Inflation is expected to have slipped in May, following an Easter boost to transport prices in the previous month.

Consensus estimates predict Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures will reveal on Wednesday that the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate of inflation was down to 2.0% last month.

This compares with 2.1% in April, and would put the measure dead on the Bank of England's target just one day before the next interest rates decision.

Unwinding in the cost of transport will be one of the most significant factors in last month's dip, after the prices of air fares, rail, coach, and sea travel all jumped higher in April.

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "April's rate was boosted because Easter occurred much later and closer to Index Day than in April 2018."

He predicted that transport services inflation will fall back to 3.5% in May, compared with 10.4% in April, reducing the sector's contribution to the overall rate.