Huge 300bn hole in FTSE 100 pensions July 16, 2009 THE total pension deficit at FTSE 100 companies has more than doubled since January, rising to a staggering £300bn, Deloitte said yesterday. Fallout from the global financial crisis has decimated the value of pension funds’ investments, the accountancy giant said, adding that the shortfall could take 50 years to clear if firms continue to contribute [...]
Retail sales fall to 2001 levels July 15, 2009 Retail sales per square foot have fallen to levels last seen in 2001, according to the business advisory firm Deloitte. While consumer spending has weakened in the recession, it is the relentless growth in capacity that has dramatically brought returns per foot down, Deloitte said. It estimates that the industry has added more than 50m [...]
Airport hotels feel the squeeze July 14, 2009 The UK hotel sector is continuing to suffer from a drop in revenue per available room (revPAR), but the capital is holding up better than regional Britain, according to a report out yesterday by Deloitte. Overall revPAR decline across the UK has accelerated by one percentage point to 13.7 per cent since April to June. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 9, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESSTRATEGIC REVAMP FOR LLOYD’SLloyd’s of London has begun the biggest strategic review it has undertaken this decade in an attempt to ensure the more than 320-year-old insurance market does not fail in exploiting the gaps in the market thrown up by the financial crisis. The institution, which deals in insurance risks from all over the [...]
Cattles axes seven more executives July 1, 2009 DOORSTEP lender Cattles has launched a boardroom bloodbath, axing seven executives linked to a “breakdown in internal controls”. Finance director James Corr, chief operating officer and chairman of credit division Welcome Financial Services Ian Cummine and another unnamed senior executive of Welcome all had their contracts terminated after the review by law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus [...]
Deloitte forms anti-spying team June 25, 2009 Deloitte yesterday said it has formed a new corporate counter-espionage team to coincide with the government’s launch of a new cyber-security plan. The accountancy firm’s new team, in the security, privacy and resilience group, will be headed up by Steve Cummings, an ex-senior government security official who was previously director of the Centre for the [...]
Deloitte ends Setanta’s run June 23, 2009 ACCOUNTANCY firm Deloitte was called in yesterday afternoon to act as administrator of Setanta Sport, ending weeks of speculation over the future of the Irish pay-TV broadcaster. “After a huge effort by the Setanta board, management team and its backers, it has not been possible to save the Great Britain (GB) business, which will be [...]
How the Baker Street brigade are taking on the Big Four accountants June 22, 2009 YOU get the impression when you meet him that Simon Michaels, the managing partner of BDO Stoy Hayward, wants a lot of things – and one of the first is a larger slice of the UK accounting pie. Michaels, at 42 the youngest person to lead the UK’s sixth-largest professional services business, was elected to [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 18, 2009 DeloitteThe professional services firm has appointed Mark Carter and Nick Seaver, pictured, to partner in its UK security, privacy and resilience group. Carter joined the firm in 2005, having previously worked for Accenture and BSkyB. Seaver joined in 2002 as a security, technology and control specialist, focusing on the financial services sector. Nomura The Japanese [...]
IMF boss says further pain may lie ahead June 15, 2009 DOMINIQUE Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has spoken out after recent reports of “green shoots”, warning the worst of the global financial crisis may not yet be behind us. Speaking on a visit to Kazakhstan, he said the IMF needed to be cautious about calling an economic recovery, although he said [...]