BDO fined £6.5m after regulator slams it for faking audit evidence November 6, 2025 Business advisory giant BDO has been slapped with a £6.5m fine after two of its former audit engagement partners made admissions of misconduct. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) launched an investigation after receiving formal complaints about the dishonest conduct of a BDO senior manager between 2015 and 2019, including the creation of false audit evidence, [...]
UK and Irish BDO firms set sights on ‘landmark’ mid-market merger November 5, 2025 The UK arm of accountancy and business advisory giant BDO is in merger talks with its Irish counterpart, highlighting a clear ambition for growth. The potential merger would be a landmark moment for both businesses. It would create one of the biggest accountancy firms in Europe, focusing on the entrepreneurial, growing, and ambitious mid-market heartland. [...]
Minimum wage hike puts pressure on professional starting salaries November 3, 2025 With Rachel Reeves poised to raise the minimum wage in her Autumn Budget, mid-tier professional services firms are bracing for significant impacts across the sector. As reported last week, the Budget will likely see employers forced to raise workers’ wages from £12.21 to at least £12.70 an hour. However, for businesses, especially those in the [...]
MHA set to deliver double-digit revenue growth as strategy pays off October 31, 2025 Listed professional services group MHA has revealed that its first half 2026 revenue is expected to jump around 13 per cent from the same period last year, as it remains on track to meet full-year market expectations. In a trading update on Friday morning, the firm said revenue for the six months ended 30 September [...]
Record number of UK businesses face financial woes ahead of Budget October 30, 2025 The number of UK businesses in ‘critical’ financial distress has surged as the economy cries out for certainty in Rachel Reeves’ November Budget. The number of businesses in ‘critical’ financial distress surged 78 per cent year-on-year, to 55,530 in the third quarter of 2025, up from 31,201 in the same quarter last year. The latest [...]
PwC shrinks global headcount amid $1.5bn AI drive October 28, 2025 Big Four giant PwC has shrunk its global workforce for the first time since 2010, trimming staff numbers by nearly 6,000, as the chairman cited investments in AI tools. In its annual report, published on Tuesday, PwC firms reported record gross revenues of $56.9bn for the 12 months ending 30 June 2025, marking a 2.7 [...]
British businesses lead the world in risk management October 28, 2025 UK businesses lead global peers in risk oversight, with nearly eight in ten British businesses reporting that boards are directly involved, a figure significantly higher than global peers. According to Aon’s new ‘global risk management survey’, senior leadership in the UK is taking on greater responsibility for the risks their businesses face, as three-quarters of [...]
EY UK bounces back with growth in most divisions but consulting lags October 27, 2025 Big Four giant EY UK has seen a bounce back after its fee income grew by 2 per cent over the last financial year to £3.78bn, with the majority of its divisions seeing growth. The firm’s distributable profits before tax grew by over 3 per cent, from £653m in FY24 to £679m, while the giant also reported [...]
RSM UK approves merger with US arm, backing partnership over private equity October 23, 2025 Accountancy firm RSM UK has greenlit a merger with its US sister, RSM US, to create a $5bn (£3.75bn) new partnership structure, in the first major transatlantic combination in the accountancy sector. It was reported last October that both firms were in talks, with a focus on the mid-market. On Thursday, after a “near-unanimous vote” [...]
Legal sector feeling subdued as regulator loses its AML powers October 23, 2025 The Treasury’s decision to transfer oversight of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervision to the FCA has sparked concerns within the professional services sector. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) served as a Professional Body Supervisor (PBS) for AMLCT for law firms across England and Wales, while for the accountancy sector, the HMRC plays the supervision [...]