Tax affects where big firms set up April 23, 2014 The bosses of most international firms study tax rates before deciding where to base offices, according to a PwC study out yesterday. It found 63 per cent of chief executives cite taxes as a factor when choosing where to operate. That rises to 70 per cent for mobile sectors like asset management, and is above [...]
Accountancy regulator to probe PwC audit of Berkeley last year September 16, 2013 THE UK accounting watchdog said yesterday it has opened an investigation into whether PwC was acting independently when it checked the books of UK house builder Berkeley Group. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said that the probe would look at PwC’s audit of Berkeley’s financial statements for the year ended 30 April 2012, as a [...]
PwC boss sees reasons to be cheerful in flat markets September 8, 2013 Chairman Ian Powell tells Marion Dakers about how the accountancy firm is seeking new sources of growth I’M slightly concerned,” says Ian Powell. “I thought that the activity in the transfer window was tense, and we have not gotten off to the best of starts.” The chairman of PwC UK might be harbouring doubts about [...]
Mothercare back at the table with its lenders over debt pile May 5, 2014 MOTHERCARE is in talks with its lenders to renegotiate the terms of its banking covenants just seven months after securing a £90m refinancing deal. The mother and baby products retailer has asked its banks HSBC and Barclays for more headroom to help it invest in opening new stores as it seeks to turn around its [...]
Stock exchange ditches auditor April 22, 2014 THE LONDON Stock Exchange has picked EY as its new auditor, becoming the latest blue-chip company to shake up its accounting relationship. PwC has audited the LSE’s books since the accounting group was formed in 1998 from the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand. EY, formerly known as Ernst & Young, will take on [...]
Clients not class mean success in accountancy May 6, 2014 PARTNERS in the UK’s top accountancy firms are most likely to be state-educated and from working or lower middle class families who did not go to the best universities, according to new research. In contrast to large law firms where partners tend to come from privileged backgrounds, partners from the big four accountancy firms – [...]
Research claims SSE contributes £9.1bn to the UK May 19, 2014 ENERGY giant SSE contributed £9.1bn to the UK economy last year, according to the results of an independent study released ahead of its full-year results this week, which are expected to show a nine per cent profit rise. The report, which was produced by accountancy firm PwC, said that SSE supported 112,000 jobs in the [...]
SSE profits surge despite price rises May 21, 2014 Energy giant SSE has reported a rise in profit before tax of 9.6 per cent to £1.55bn for the year ended 31 March, despite having raised customers' bills by 8.2 per cent during the period. Analysts predicted a nine per cent rise in profits for the last fiscal year. The company also decided to hike [...]
Most Britons have not learnt the lessons from the winter floods March 31, 2014 ALMOST two thirds of Britons do not have or don’t know if they have flood insurance for their homes, according to new research. Hundreds of homes across the country were wrecked by flood damage due to the extreme weather in December and the early months of this year. Yet according to a survey commissioned by [...]
Pawn shop H&T makes bid for bankrupt rival April 7, 2014 PAWNBROKER H&T Group yesterday revealed it is bidding to buy assets belonging to its bankrupt rival Albemarle & Bond, after it emerged nine other outfits had bid for the firm. Albemarle & Bond went bust last month after its shares fell 97 per cent due to a decline in the gold price and its overstretched [...]