Serco seeks to capitalise on Brexit contract chaos as financial turnaround continues February 21, 2019 Outsourcing giant Serco said it could benefit from Brexit in the coming months if the government “needs help quickly,” raising its sales forecast for the coming year. "If we’re going to take back control, we’re going to need people to do the taking-back and the controlling,” chief executive Rupert Soames told City A.M.. “The government [...]
Government to take on more risk on public contracts to protect outsourcers, says minister February 20, 2019 Private outsourcing firms carrying out public services will be exposed to less risk when taking on government contracts in future, the Cabinet Office (CO) has said. The department today published a new set of guidelines for how the government should procure public services, a process which has increasingly come under fire this year after the [...]
Interserve could face £66m hit if shareholders reject rescue deal February 14, 2019 Debt-stricken outsourcer Interserve may have to stump up another £66m if its largest shareholder triumphs in a plan to thwart a rescue deal struck last week. The emergency refinancing package, designed to avoid it facing the same fate as Carillion, sparked ire among at least one-third of its shareholders, because it proposed all but wiping [...]
Former minister criticises Amber Rudd’s plan to jail bosses who mismanage pension schemes February 10, 2019 A former pensions minister has criticised Amber Rudd’s plan to toughen up laws governing those in charge of employee pensions in the wake of recent mismanagement scandals at BHS and Carillion. Company bosses could be locked up for as long as seven years if they don’t manage employee pension schemes properly, according to Work and [...]
Big Four accountants push back against breakup proposals February 7, 2019 The Big Four accountancy firms have fired back at the competition regulator’s proposal to break-up their UK operations. In their responses to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) outlines for shaking up the audit market, Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC all resisted a suggested split. David Barnes, managing director for public policy at Deloitte UK, [...]
Interserve directors face being pushed out as rescue deal finally surfaces February 6, 2019 Interserve shareholders have launched a controversial bid to oust eight senior directors after the firm announced the details of a rescue deal designed to avoid it facing the same fate as Carillion. After nearly two months of waiting, the struggling outsourcer this morning published details of the deleveraging plan designed to relieve the majority of [...]
Struggling outsourcer Interserve approaching finalised rescue refinancing deal with lenders February 3, 2019 Chiefs at debt-stricken outsourcer Interserve are nearing a rescue refinancing deal with the firm’s lenders to keep its head above water. The public sector outsourcing giant, which has been struggling with more than £600m debt, is due to announce it has reached an agreement with its banks in the next week, according to reports. Read [...]
KPMG boss confident in Carillion audit despite partner suspension January 30, 2019 KPMG’s UK boss said the firm remains confident in the quality of its audit work for collapsed construction firm Carillion, despite suspending a partner over concerns related to falsified documents. Earlier this month, the Big Four audit confirmed it had suspended the top audit partner Carillion, Peter Menshan, along with three other non-partner members of [...]
Construction in crisis: Where did it all go wrong for Kier? January 29, 2019 Construction outsourcer Kier Group has had a tricky few months. First, it became the most shorted stock on the market, with hedge funds drawing direct comparison to failed competitor Carillion. Since then, it has bungled a rights issue, lost its chief executive and seen its share price plummet more than 39 per cent. City A.M. tracks [...]
What are the UK’s most shorted stocks? January 29, 2019 Hedge funds made millions from short-selling Carillion shares after the construction firm collapsed a year ago. That’s hardly a surprise, but what’s telling is that many short-sellers were predicting its failure even before the company issued its first profit warning back in July 2017. Short-sellers borrow shares from other investors, typically large institutions like pension [...]