Legal lender Level gets £20m investment from venture capital firm March 16, 2021 Legal lender Level has received an investment from Guernsey-based 1818 Venture Capital worth £20m. Level specialises in lending within the family and private client law sectors and works with more than 200 law firms. It had funded hundreds of cases and clients. George Williamson, founder and CEO of Level, said: “[The] investment, and in particular [...]
Clifford Chance hands staff Covid-19 bonus March 15, 2021 Clifford Chance will pay staff an extra bonus of five per cent of their salary for their hard work during the pandemic. As a sign of the firm’s appreciation for its people over the past 12 months, the magic circle law firm will make a one-off payment to each of its lawyers and business professionals [...]
BDO wins biggest international audit client replacing Big Four firm KPMG March 15, 2021 BDO in the UK, German and the US has won its largest ever international audit client, replacing KPMG as auditor of software giant SAP. The challenger firm will take over from KPMG as SAP’s auditor for the 2023 financial year. According to SAP, BDO has a “modern and innovative audit concept”. The decision to take [...]
Begbies Traynor set for £25m acquisition in biggest deal yet March 12, 2021 Begbies Traynor has agreed to buy insolvency practice David Rubin & Partners, in a deal worth up to £25m. The deal represents Begbies Traynor’s biggest acquisition to date, and continues the firm’s recent acquisitive spree, which has seen it buy two firms already this year. Begbies Traynor will pay an initial £12m for David Rubin [...]
McKinsey elects Bob Sternfels as new leader following former boss’s ousting March 10, 2021 Bob Sternfels has been elected the new global managing partner of McKinsey, making him the 13th partner to lead the firm since its founding in 1926. The change comes after former boss Kevin Sneader was voted out of his position following a perceived poor handling of a succession of crises. Sternfels will begin his three-year [...]
Clash of the consultants: Secretariat sues rival over fake Glassdoor review March 9, 2021 Consultancy firm Secretariat is suing rival HKA, after one of the bosses allegedly posted damaging reviews about Secretariat on website Glassdoor. Secretariat has filed a lawsuit in California alleging that Toby Hunt, who is partner, chief business development officer and head of Europe at HKA, made damaging comments on employer review site Glassdoor while posing [...]
‘Priority’ BEIS audit reform report now over a month late March 9, 2021 The keenly awaited BEIS report on audit reform is now more than a month late to be published, despite business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng insisting audit reform was a “priority” for his department. City A.M. understands that the report, which is thought to be extensive, was due out on 8 February, but a month later is [...]
Ex-law firm staffer banned over sexually explicit WhatsApp messages March 9, 2021 An ex-member of staff at listed law firm DWF has been banned from working in the legal profession after he sexually harassed a junior colleague. Matthew Unwin was employed as a financial management executive in DWF’s Manchester office. He was dismissed on 25 September 2018 for gross misconduct after working at the firm for six [...]
Covid court backlogs leave victims waiting years for justice, watchdog warns March 9, 2021 Court dates pushed back to 2023 are having “major consequences for victims and witnesses”, a prosecution watchdog has found, as backlogs due the pandemic continue. Delays exacerbated by restrictions have impacted people’s ability to recall events and could lead to less people willing to provide evidence, sparking concern over a “major risk for public confidence”, [...]
BP to keep partial work-from-home policy as oil major seeks to cut office costs March 8, 2021 BP plans to extend remote working as a further cost saving measure affecting 25,000 staff