28. Contingent liabilities

Liabilities have been recorded for the directors' best estimate of uncertain contract positions, known legal claims, investigations and legal actions in progress. The Group takes legal advice as to the likelihood of the success of claims and actions and no liability is recorded where the directors consider, based on that advice, that the action is unlikely to succeed, or that the Group cannot make a sufficiently reliable estimate of the potential obligation. The Group also has contingent liabilities in respect of other issues that may have occurred, but where no legal or contractual claim has been made and it is not possible to reliably estimate the potential obligation (see note 2).

The Company and its subsidiaries have provided unlimited multilateral guarantees to secure any bank overdrafts and loans of all other Group companies. At 26 March 2022 this amounted to £nil (2021: £nil). The Group has also given performance bonds in the normal course of trade.