Axa buys Ageas’ commercial insurance business and takes 100 of its staff in deal worth £47.5m February 15, 2022 Axa’s UK and Ireland subsidiary has purchased the “renewal rights” for Belgian insurer Ageas’ commercial business, in a deal worth £47.5m. Parisian insurer Axa said the deal will see around 100 of Aeges’ UK employees move into Axa’s City of London offices. In a statement, Axa said the deal will help it expand its commercial [...]
DWF CEO Sir Nigel Knowles says big pay rises are not a solution to legal sector’s recruitment crisis February 14, 2022 Sir Nigel Knowles, the former Co-CEO and co-chairman of DLA Piper, has said that offering young lawyers huge pay rises will not fix the legal sector’s recruitment crisis. In a letter to the Financial Times, Knowles said “offering more and more money to young people is only a sticking plaster” as he argued law firms [...]
Small London law firm seeks to compete with Magic Circle by appointing its own ‘fertility officer’ February 14, 2022 A small family law firm, with offices in Clapham, Hammersmith, and Islington, has become the first UK company to appoint its own “fertility officer,” as it seeks to compete with larger rivals that have begun offering highly expensive fertility benefits. London law firm Burgess Mee has named surrogacy law specialist, Natalie Sutherland, as its first [...]
UK government to set out plans for audit watchdog overhaul imminently after years of delays February 14, 2022 UK government ministers will set out their plans to reform regulation of the UK’s auditing industry within the coming weeks, after calls for an overhaul first emerged in 2018 in response to the collapse of UK construction contractor Carillion. The proposals are currently being circulated and are set to be signed off imminently, according to [...]
UK travel bankruptcies on the rise as Omicron and staycations scupper sector’s recovery February 14, 2022 The UK’s travel sector is still suffering from the impacts of Covid, according to new figures from accountancy company Mazars, which show that travel sector insolvencies are on the rise. In January, 15 travel companies went into insolvency, up from nine in December, Mazars’ figures show. The recent rise in the number of insolvencies comes [...]
EY, Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC are the biggest employers of business grads, new figures show February 14, 2022 Business school grads are more likely to go into consulting, than any other industry, according to a survey of 300,000 business grads from OnlineU. More than a fifth (21.1 per cent) of business grads surveyed worked in consultancies, the figures show. Notably, the Big Four auditors alone employed more than 12 per cent of those [...]
Squire Patton Boggs ups pay for freshly trained lawyers to £95k a year February 14, 2022 Ohio headquartered law firm Squire Patton Boggs has given newly qualified lawyers in its London offices a £10,000 pay rise after upping their salaries to £95,000. A spokesperson for the firm told City A.M. that Squire Patton Boggs has also given NQ lawyers in its Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham offices a £5,000 pay rise, which [...]
EY to hire 1,300 new UK employees after launching climate focused EY Carbon business February 14, 2022 Big Four accountancy firm EY has set out plans to launch a new, climate-focused consultancy business which will see the firm hire 1,300 new UK employees. The auditor’s plans to launch its own ESG consultancy, EY Carbon, will see EY invest £100m, in line with plans to recruit 1,300 people over the next three years. [...]
One-in-four UK workers plan a ‘hybrid holiday’ this year, to make the most of remote working February 14, 2022 More than a quarter of UK workers are planning to take a remote working holiday this year, according to a poll of 2,000 office workers. Workers from across the UK said they plan to take advantage of their employer’s work-from-home policy by going on a ‘hybrid working holiday’ – with a view to going abroad [...]
Major recruiter hits back at SRA after watchdog says it will crack down on workplace bullies February 13, 2022 The managing director of a major recruitment company has slammed the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for being out of touch, after the watchdog said law firms should stamp out bullying. The SRA said it plans to crack down on law firms that promote toxic workplace cultures, after releasing new guidance calling on the legal sector [...]