UK retailers must adapt business models to survive pandemic, experts say July 31, 2020 Around half of UK retailers must pivot their businesses in order to avoid collapse during the coronavirus pandemic, industry experts said. UK retailers need to move away from traditional, store-centric models and embrace online shopping, the latest KPMG Ipsos Retail Think Tank (RTT) said. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated changes that were already happening in [...]
PwC buys mindfulness app for all staff amid coronavirus crisis November 6, 2020 Audit giant PwC has bought a 12 month subscription to a mindfulness app for all 22,000 staff across the UK business. City AM understands the chosen app is ‘Headspace’, a mobile app that aims to help users feel less stressed through a combination of meditation, mindfulness and better sleep. In a note to all partners [...]
Weekend Read: Ailing business investment will dampen the economy’s post-Covid prospects August 21, 2021 The good pandemic-related news continued to emerge last week. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics shows output jumped 4.8 per cent in the second quarter of this year, driven by the lifting of Covid restrictions on sectors that rely on face-to-face and social contact to generate income. The services industry – which accounts [...]
Multiverse raises $44m to fuel apprenticeship scheme expansion January 19, 2021 A London startup founded by Tony Blair’s son has raised $44m (£32m) to help fuel expansion of its tech and leadership apprenticeship schemes. Multiverse, whose training programmes are billed as an alternative to traditional university education, has pursued rapid growth over the last year, tripling its number of apprentices to more than 2,000. The company [...]
London sees fresh fall in permanent jobs placements August 6, 2020 London recruiters saw a further decline in permanent jobs placements last month as firms transitioned out of the downturn caused by the pandemic. The fall in placements across London was stronger than those seen across the rest of England, according to KPMG and REC’s latest report on jobs. However the decline was the least marked [...]
Federal Reserve chair calls for national drive to full employment February 10, 2021 Invoking post-World War II efforts to reach full employment and pledging continued loose monetary policy to help the process, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made a broad call Wednesday for a “society-wide commitment” to get Americans back to work, particularly minorities and those ousted from lower-paying jobs during the pandemic. “Given the number of people who have [...]
Lookers switches auditor from Deloitte to BDO after £19m vanishes from its books December 10, 2020 BDO will be appointed the next auditor of vehicle retailer Lookers after a difficult final year with Deloitte that saw £19m vanish from its books. Lookers had been audited by Deloitte for the previous 14 years. The Big Four firm first began auditing the business on 31 December 2006. Lookers’ ran into trouble with Deloitte [...]
Deloitte China whistleblower circulates damning presentation on social media that alleges audit failures of RYB Education February 5, 2021 Big Four firm Deloitte is under pressure after one of its employees reportedly made a 55-page PowerPoint presentation that exposed the firm’s alleged accounting violations in China. The PowerPoint, which has been circulating on Weibo, a Chinese website similar to Twitter, has alleged that when Deloitte was auditing the financial data of its client RYB [...]
City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile this week? August 11, 2021 City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Former Tesco director joins London’s Interpath as special advisor London-headquartered firm Interpath Advisory has appointed former Tesco director and retail veteran Christine Cross as a special advisor for the business. Cross’ extensive non-executive and advisory board [...]
Supermarket sector tops customer service list for pandemic performance July 15, 2020 The supermarket sector topped the list for customer service during the coronavirus crisis, according to the latest research, as grocers stepped up to the challenge to serve shoppers throughout the lockdown. The sector’s score increased four per cent compared to last year, according to analysis by KPMG. Financial services, which was the next best performing [...]