Christmas will be make or break for our retailers November 8, 2009 WHEN the Christmas lights on Regent Street were switched on last week, it marked the beginning of the most important period of the year for high-street retailers. Many can earn 60 per cent of their annual profits in the peak weeks of Christmas. After a dismal end to 2008 when it seemed like retail chains [...]
Big Four faces auditing probe November 5, 2009 THE big four accountancy firms have been put on notice over possible conflicts of interest stemming from the growing overlap of internal and external audit services. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has launched a three-month inquiry after details of a deal between KPMG and Rentokil were made public. The controversial contract provides a “deeper” service [...]
Roger Bootle gives warning on UK growth November 1, 2009 THE COMING public spending squeeze could cut Britain’s annual growth by up to two percentage points, a report warns today. With the government finances in the worst shape for at least half a century and public debt heading towards 100 per cent of gross domestic product, major spending cuts which will have profound effects on [...]
Roger Bootle gives warning on UK growth November 1, 2009 THE COMING public spending squeeze could cut Britain’s annual growth by up to two percentage points, a report warns today. With the government finances in the worst shape for at least half a century and public debt heading towards 100 per cent of gross domestic product, major spending cuts which will have profound effects on [...]
Professional services are a bedrock of City success November 11, 2009 AN insurer talking to accountants may not sound like much of a crowd-drawer in the traditional sense. But when Lord Levene, chairman of Lloyd’s of London, addressed a breakfast briefing at Chartered Accountants Hall yesterday, his comments were enough to spark real interest among the audience. Levene’s salient point was that we cannot allow one [...]
Thomson Reuters buys Abacus September 13, 2009 Thomson Reuters has said it is to buy tax-software firm Abacus Enterprise from Deloitte, in a deal expected to be worth around $45m (£27m). The group has snapped up the London firm, which supplies tax products to half the firms in the FTSE 100, as part of ongoing expansion of its professional services activities. Thomson [...]
Big spending days of top flight are finished September 1, 2009 SPENDING by top-flight clubs shrank by 10 per cent this year – and experts say a more “risk-averse” climate means Premier League outlays will fall again in 2010. Teams in England’s top tier spent an estimated total of £450m before the summer transfer window closed yesterday evening, a reduction of around £50m on 2008’s record [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 16, 2009 DeloitteThe business advisory firm has hired Carl Bates and Ed Marsden as partners in its technology, media and telecoms (TMT) data team. Both join from Detica, where Bates, pictured, was managing director for the UK consulting business and Marsden led the TMT practice. Bates also previously spent four years as a director at Deloitte, while [...]
Ernst &Young revenues rise despite crisis September 30, 2009 ERNST & YOUNG (E&Y), one of the Big Four accountancy firms, said it left its rivals in the dust in the 2008-9 year in terms of UK revenue growth. The smallest of the Big Four said UK revenues rose to £1.38bn – a 7.9 per cent gain on the £1.28bn revenues seen in the previous [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 18, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES LLOYDS OFFLOADS MALL FOR £300MHammerson, the UK real estate investment trust, has emerged as the preferred buyer of a £300m shopping mall near Glasgow being sold by Lloyds Banking Group after the original owner defaulted on the loan. The UK commercial property market has seen few sales by the larger lending banks, in [...]