Insolvency firm Begbies Traynor’s boss says retail carnage expected to continue December 10, 2019 The executive chairman of restructuring and insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor said today that there was no sign of the carnage on the High Street ending as the growth in e-retailing and shaky consumer confidence continued to take their toll. “Headwinds in terms of consumer demand with uncertainty over what the future will hold and structural [...]
Accountancy firm Grant Thornton and one of its partners hit with fines for audit failures December 10, 2019 Accountancy firm Grant Thornton was today fined £650,000 and one of its partners £20,000 for failures in the auditing of a publicly listed company. Regulator the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said it had sanctioned the firm with a £650,000 fine (discounted to £422,500) and one of its partners £20,000 (discounted to £13,000). It has also [...]
Artificial intelligence could wipe out 13,000 legal sector jobs December 9, 2019 The adoption of new technologies such as artificial intelligence could lead to the UK legal sector shedding 13,000 jobs, according to a report by the Law Society of England and Wales. The report on the future shape of the legal workforce projected a 13,000 fall in the number of jobs by 2027, equivalent to a [...]
UK business output hits 17-month low, BDO says December 9, 2019 Declining output across the UK’s services and manufacturing sectors has caused BDO’s output index to fall to its lowest level in 17 months. In November the index, which provides a snapshot of business productivity through analysing data from the UK’s business surveys, fell by 0.65 points to 96.04. Read more: Private sector output suffers worst [...]
Glencore threatened with class against lawsuit that could run into the billions December 5, 2019 Mining and commodities giant Glencore could be hit by a class action lawsuit running into the billions, a law firm said today. Glencore confirmed today that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) had launched a bribery investigation into its activities. Read more: Glencore shares tumble on Serious Fraud Office bribery investigation US law firm Boies Schiller [...]
Hybrid law firm and funds adviser MJ Hudson targeting December float December 5, 2019 Hybrid law firm and fund adviser MJ Hudson is lining up a mid-December listing on London’s junior market. The firm has appointed broker Cenkos Securities to advise on the float and has issued a schedule one document as a first stage in the listing process. The firm was founded by former SJ Berwin private equity [...]
KPMG sells pensions arm in private equity-backed management buyout December 5, 2019 KPMG has sold its pensions arm in a management buyout backed by private equity firm Exponent. KPMG said today it had signed a conditional agreement to sell its pensions practice to Newco, which is backed by Exponent and KPMG’s 20 pensions partners. All 20 partners and 500 staff will transfer to the new business, which [...]
UK legal sector generated £35.8bn in 2018 December 5, 2019 Revenue generated by legal activities in the UK increased six per cent year-on-year in 2018 to hit £35.5bn, according to a report published today. The report by lobby group TheCityUK said the output of legal services in terms of gross value added (GVA) was £26.8bn, or 1.5 per cent of total UK GVA in 2017 [...]
Ex-Baker McKenzie boss admits sexually harassing lawyer ‘half his age’ December 4, 2019 The former London managing partner of Baker McKenzie Gary Senior today admitted sexually harassing a lawyer “half his age” in 2012. Senior has been accused of breaching professional standards after sexually harassing a junior lawyer (Person A) after a night of drinking and then allegedly interfering in the internal investigation into the incident. Senior was [...]
Junior lawyer felt ‘cast aside’ by Baker McKenzie after alleged sexual harassment December 3, 2019 A junior lawyer who was allegedly sexually harassed by Baker Mckenzie’s former London managing partner Gary Senior said she felt like she was “cast aside” by the firm following the incident in 2012. Giving evidence to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal today, the lawyer (known as Person A), said: “My feeling at the time was I [...]