Accountants defend their tax record September 13, 2015 As Big Four accountancy firm PwC publishes its annual report Madeline Ratcliffe talks to chairman Ian Powell. PWC, ONE of the world’s largest financial services companies, will today report their full year profits increased by six per cent, to £818m, reflecting a policy of growth and investment over the last eight years. The Big Four [...]
Embrace, engage and encourage: THE GENEROUS GENERATION December 17, 2015 Millennials will make up the majority of the global workforce by 2025 (between 55 per cent and 75 per cent) according to various statistics. That’s a fantastic opportunity for both charities and businesses, if they can adapt to meet the needs of this socially-motivated generation. Who are the millennials? Agewise they are the under 35s [...]
Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw reminds government that apprenticeships need to be worth the effort October 19, 2015 Politicians love apprenticeships. The current government is committed to delivering three million of them in the next five years and ministers’ speeches on the topic tend to have a ring of Stalin’s tractor production statistics. It’s easy to see why politicians are attracted to the lever marked ‘apprenticeships’. With hundreds of thousands of school leavers [...]
In defence of metric-driven management August 19, 2015 Workers are willing to share data, but trust is paramount Before last weekend, the culture at Amazon was associated with break-out spaces and day-care for dogs. But a New York Times article has slammed its “bruising” regime, underpinned by “purposeful Darwinism”. The controversy centres on the data-driven approach to Amazon’s staff management, and its use [...]
The City’s most dangerous streets for cyclists – and three other things we know about the dangers of cycling in London September 29, 2015 Cycling may be one of the UK's fastest-growing modes of transport – but pedal power comes with its risks: a map by Transport for London throws into stark relief how frequently cyclists are injured, allowing users to zoom into their local area to find out where cycling blackspots are. But what about the City's cyclists? [...]
Bank of England and PRA’s new ring-fencing rules “could cost banks five per cent” of their operating budget October 15, 2015 The Bank of England has today laid out further details about how Britain's biggest banks will have to restructure in order to comply with so-called ring-fencing regulations. From 2019, banks with core deposits greater than £25bn will have to separate their retail activities from the riskier parts of the business. The requirements were first set out in the Financial Services [...]
Fit for the digital age: Why we’re not publishing paper copies of our annual report September 14, 2015 As a firm advising clients on regulatory disclosure, transparency and getting digitally fit for the future, corporate reporting is a major focus for PwC. Having produced a traditional print and pdf annual report for several years, this week we published something decidedly different. For the first time, we’ve released our annual report solely in a [...]
As the UK unemployment rate hits a seven-year low, should the Bank of England raise interest rates imminently? October 14, 2015 Andrew Sentance, senior economic adviser to PwC and a former member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, says Yes. There is little indication that the UK labour market is softening. Employment has hit a new high on the data series which goes back to the early 1970s. Vacancies are significantly higher than before the financial [...]
City Moves for 25 September 2015 | Who’s switching jobs September 24, 2015 LIONTRUST The fund management group has announced the appointment of Antonio Forte to its international sales team. He joins from Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, and has also held positions at Luxgest Asset Management and Philip Morris International. PWC Andrew Claymore has been appointed director in the professional services firm’s financial services corporate finance team. He was [...]
Electra chairman Roger Yates resigns as Sherborne’s activist investor Edward Bramson voted onto the board by shareholders November 5, 2015 Sherborne's Edward Bramson has finally succeeded in his mission to join the board of private equity group Electra, after 53.5 per cent of shareholders voted in favour of his appointment as a director, 16.6m to 14.4m against. Chairman Roger Yates resigned from the from the board with immediate effect after the meeting. Sherborne's first move is to introduce "a strategic [...]