The Pensions Regulator names Charles Counsell as new chief executive December 18, 2018 The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has appointed the head of the Money Advice Service as its new chief executive. Charles Counsell, who was formerly executive director of automatic enrolment at TPR, will replace outgoing chief executive Lesley Titcomb in April. Counsell said: “The work that TPR does is ever more important in a world where millions [...]
Report into audit sector commissioned by John McDonnell calls for break-up of Big Four December 14, 2018 A report into the audit sector commissioned by shadow chancellor John McDonnell has called for the break-up of the Big Four audit firms. The report, published today, recommended that the audit business of accounting firms must be legally separate from everything else and says it should be a criminal offence for auditors to perform non-audit [...]
Balfour Beatty set to grow revenues against backdrop of struggling construction rivals December 14, 2018 Balfour Beatty is on course to beat expectations after selling off more of its infrastructure investment stakes in December, the engineering firm said today. The engineering firm expects to net about £65m in profit from the disposals over the full year, which come under its Build to Last transformation programme that will also see it sell [...]
Editor’s Notes: Wherever Brexit takes us, let’s hope it’s not Norway December 14, 2018 Theresa May remains in office, and all her difficulties remain with her. By surviving Wednesday night’s vote, she has secured a grace period of 12 months during which time she cannot be challenged again. However, Labour MPs are determined to call a parliamentary vote of no confidence in the government, which could destroy the Tory-DUP [...]
Serco stands out from outsourcing crowd with bullish trading update predicting strong profit growth December 13, 2018 Outsourcer Serco delivered a confident trading update today forecasting a 30-40 per cent increase in underlying profit for the year, despite the gloom that is gripping its rivals. The company predicted profit in the range of £90 to £95m, it upgraded its earnings per share forecasts for 2018 and 2019 and said its leverage and [...]
Suppliers uneasy about Interserve payments as outsourcer’s shares edge back from the brink December 12, 2018 Interserve’s suppliers are worried they will not receive payments from the debt-stricken outsourcer, as its share prices nudge back up from a low of 6p. Smaller subcontractors carrying out work on behalf of the company are “extremely worried they will not be paid,” said Rudi Klein, chief executive of trade body Specialist Engineering Contractors' (SEC) [...]
Whitehall ploughs one-third of annual budget into outsourced services, despite ongoing financial misery of the sector December 11, 2018 Whitehall could not abandon the outsourcing of public services even if politicians wanted to because it costs so much, according to research. The government ploughs £284bn – almost one-third of its overall budget – into work done by external suppliers every year, think tank Institute for Government (IfG) said today. The huge outlay is despite the [...]
Can Interserve clean up its mess, or is it destined for the same fate as its failed rival Carillion? December 11, 2018 It feels like we’ve been here before, doesn’t it? It was almost a year ago when outsourcing giant Carillion collapsed, and now there are some worrying signs that rival FTSE firm Interserve could wind up suffering the same fate, serving a huge blow to UK businesses and the livelihoods of its 75,000 employees. On Sunday [...]
Interserve share price plummets as it admits rescue refinancing plan December 10, 2018 Interserve's shares more than halved today after the outsourcer confirmed it was in rescue refinancing talks with lenders as it battles a £650m debt pile. The embattled public sector outsourcing giant admitted at the weekend it was “engaged in constructive discussions regarding the agreement and implementation of a deleveraging plan”, causing a 53 per cent [...]
Debate: Do we need more regulation to tackle late payments to SMEs? December 7, 2018 Do we need more regulation to tackle late payments to SMEs? Yes – Jordan Marshall is policy development manager at IPSE. SMEs represent 99.9 per cent of all private sector businesses. Included in this figure are 4.8m self-employed people – the UK’s smallest enterprises. A report from MPs this week exposed the shoddy practices of [...]