London still in first place for financial and professional services January 22, 2021 London continues to hold the top spot for financial and professional services when compared with other major cities, a report by the City of London Corporation has found. The research, which took 91 different metrics for success into account, found that, while other major centres may lead on some measures, London and the UK have [...]
Going legal: Why ‘no jab, no job’ could hurt more than any needle January 22, 2021 Nearly a year on from the start of the pandemic, many employers and employees will be attracted by the prospect of a workforce that is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, which may take them closer towards a safe return to “normality”. Mandatory vaccination is not expected at a national level – public health legislation expressly prohibits [...]
Did fewer Christmas parties drive an end of year boom at Keystone Law? January 21, 2021 Keystone Law was surprised by a better than expected Christmas period this year, and is now expecting to report profit before tax of above market expectations. Full year revenues to 30 Jan 2020 were £49.6m, and analysts at Panmure Gordon are now anticipating FY21 revenues of £55m for the law firm, which will issue its [...]
Third lockdown ‘far more challenging this time around’ for auditors January 21, 2021 The timing of England’s third national lockdown has posed new and more difficult challenges for audit firms to overcome, that could see annual results delayed or even qualified. With lockdown rules urging people to stay home to stop the spread of coronavirus, auditors are struggling to physically carry out necessary tasks to perform an audit. [...]
Tax penalties double in six months following lockdown lull January 20, 2021 The value of penalties imposed by HMRC has doubled in the last six months, with November up nearly 100 per cent on May. Some £41m was collected from penalties in November 2020, up a whopping 97 per cent from the £21m that was collected in May, according to HMRC’s receipts and expenditure data. Penalties could [...]
Consultants expected to be Covid-19 winners after bagging lucrative contracts January 20, 2021 The UK consultancy sector is expected to grow nine per cent in 2021, after the sector won lucrative contracts during the pandemic.
‘We want to be the regional magic circle firm,’ says Knights CEO January 19, 2021 Regional law firm Knights saw revenues jumped by some £14m in the second half of 2020, up to £46.2m from £31.9m in H1, and the positive year has only fuelled the firm’s ambitions. The promising results were in part delivered in part by the successful remote acquisitions of Shulmans, ASB and Fraser Brown, and the [...]
EY staff told to work 16 hour days, weekends, and berated for getting food poisoning January 19, 2021 It’s all work and no play for EY staff in the Hong Kong office, as employees were pressured to work until 11:30pm each week night and at the weekend during the busiest period. An email from one manager at the Big Four firm in Hong Kong told staff they should be working 16-hour days during [...]
Begbies Traynor acquires CVR Global in biggest buy yet January 18, 2021 Insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor has acquired CVR Global in a deal worth £20.8m. The move represents the largest insolvency acquisition Begbies Traynor has made to date, and provides a significant expansion of its scale in London and the South of England. The share price of the corporate restructuring firm jumped 5.5 per cent today following [...]
Isabelle Jenkins named PWC’s new leader of financial services January 18, 2021 Isabelle Jenkins has been named the new leader of financial services for PwC UK after spending 17 years as a partner at the firm. Jenkins replaces Andrew Kail, who held the role over the last four and a half years. He will take up a new role as the CEO of Legal and General retail [...]