MPs demand update on audit reform progress from business secretary October 21, 2020 An influential committee of MPs has written to business secretary Alok Sharma to demand an update on the government’s progress implementing audit reforms following a series of high-profile accounting scandals. In a letter dated yesterday, Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee chair Darren Jones asked Sharma to outline which reforms recommended by two recent [...]
New Look landlords approve switch to turnover rents September 15, 2020 New Look’s landlords and creditors have given the struggling retailer the green light to push ahead with restructuring plans. The majority of landlords have approved plans to allow the high street chain to switch to turnover-based rents at 402 of its UK stores, which will align rent payments with future sales performance. The remaining 68 [...]
To qualify or not to qualify? Auditors move to ditch risky clients November 30, 2020 Qualifying an audit could lead to unhappy clients and litigation risks, so it is safer to ditch clients instead, an expert has told City A.M., after several auditors dropped clients in October. Last month three separate auditors terminated contracts with clients in compromising circumstances. At the time the reputational risk of being associated with the [...]
City Corporation launches public consultation for revised City Plan March 19, 2021 The City of London Corporation has today launched a public consultation for the revised City Plan 2036 and is calling on all those affected – including workers, businesses and residents – to provide feedback. The plan sets the strategic direction on future development of the City over the next 15 years and includes the vision, strategy, objectives and [...]
Watchdog orders Big Four to separate auditing units by 2024 July 6, 2020 The Big Four accounting firms — PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY — must separate their audit units from the rest of their businesses by 2024, the audit watchdog said this morning. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is asking the companies to agree to operational separation by June 2024 to ensure their audits “do not rely [...]
Covid’s catapult: four positive trends for women January 26, 2021 Women have been making progress for years, but at a glacial pace. Year after year, I see the same bleak numbers: the more or less stagnant percentages of women in senior management, on boards, in finance, in tech, in investing. However, Covid-19 has been a catalyst and change accelerator in many areas, and while its burdens [...]
UK GDP soars in second quarter as Covid unlocking turbo-charges economy : CityAM August 12, 2021 The burst in consumer spending triggered by the gradual lifting of Covid prevention measures in April and May boosted the UK economy in the second quarter, according to fresh official data released today. Figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal the UK economy grew 4.8 per cent in the second quarter of this year, [...]
City Moves for 12 February – who’s switching jobs at CMR Surgical, The Ozone Project and Deloitte? February 11, 2019 Who’s on the move today? CMR Surgical CMR Surgical, the British company developing a next-generation surgical robot, has announced the appointment of Ingeborg Øie as chief financial officer and member of the Board of Directors, effective from 25 February 2019. Ingeborg joins CMR Surgical from Smith & Nephew, the FTSE 100 global medical technology business, [...]
Jobs lost as Oasis and Warehouse fall into administration due to coronavirus April 15, 2020 High street retailers Oasis and Warehouse have today fallen into administration, resulting in the loss of 202 jobs. In total, 41 head office jobs will be retained to assist Deloitte, which has been appointed as administrator, while 1,801 employees will be furloughed. The Oasis, Warehouse and Idle Man brands will continue to trade online in [...]
Businesses of all stripes have stepped up to the Covid-19 challenge March 6, 2021 The private sector has already played a crucial role in the fight against Covid-19. Not only have some of the world’s largest companies developed crucial vaccines and life-saving treatments, but the private sector more broadly has also played a more indirect – yet still highly important – role in supporting the public sector as it [...]