Audit re-appointments waved through by shareholders despite year of failures in sector October 25, 2018 Shareholders overwhelmingly vote to back the re-appointment of company auditors despite widespread controversies in the sector, new research shows. Analysis of annual general meeting votes in 2018 by outsourcing firm Equiniti has found that the average votes in favour of re-appointing an auditor ranged from 97.6 per cent to 99.5 per cent across the FTSE [...]
Out with the old, in with the new UK high street September 26, 2018 A tale of two retailers dominated the high street yesterday – Next’s shares jumped nearly eight per cent after the fashion giant lifted its full-year profit guidance while Card Factory’s shares lost a tenth of their value after profits were off-message. Read more: Next nudges up profit guidance after blistering summer The diverging fortunes [...]
Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell loses conviction appeal with Pensions Regulator September 21, 2018 Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell has lost an appeal against his conviction for failing to provide information to the Pensions Regulator (TPR) following the demise of the department store chain. Chappell was ordered to pay £87,000 in January. Today a judge ruled his conviction would not be overturned because he gave "entirely unbelievable" evidence. In 2015, [...]
Labour mulls break-up of Big Four accountancy firms September 21, 2018 The Labour party is weighing up radical plans to break up the Big Four accountancy firms, amid mounting pressure on the UK’s scandal-hit auditors. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell vowed to end what he described as a “cartel” among the country’s largest bean counters in the run-up to his party conference this weekend. “They have demonstrated [...]
Former BHS boss Dominic Chappell claims he went ‘above and beyond’ to help Pensions Regulator September 19, 2018 The man who bought failing department store BHS for £1 in 2015 said he went "above and beyond" to assist the pensions watchdog in its enquires after the business collapsed. After Dominic Chappell's Retail Acquisitions bought BHS from Philip Green in March 2015, the business collapsed a year later, leaving an enormous pensions black hole of [...]
A summer to forget: KPMG reputation dealt another blow after admitting to compliance report misconduct September 19, 2018 Scandal-hit KPMG has admitted to misconduct over compliance reports made for a unit of the Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon Group in another fresh embarrassment for one of the Big Four accountancy firms. The UK’s accountancy watchdog said today that KPMG and one of its partners Richard Hinton accepted they had fallen short of standards [...]
Former BHS boss Chappell begins pensions conviction appeal September 17, 2018 Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell was today accused of trying to “muddy the waters” in his appeal against a conviction for failing to provide information to the UK’s pensions watchdog about a hole in BHS’s pensions scheme. Prosecutors told the court that Chappell’s appeal was a “cynical attempt to rewrite history”, the Financial Times reported. [...]
Sir Philip Green lets go of loss-making BHS for £1 only March 13, 2015 Struggling retail chain BHS is to be sold for £1 after almost 15 years in the possession of billionaire Arcadia chairman Sir Philip Green. The iconic chain of department stores was founded in 1928 by American entrepreneurs seeking emulate the success of Woolworths. But the company has declined in recent years as it lost market [...]
Sir Philip Green shrugs off profits drop at Topshop parent group Arcadia November 25, 2014 Sir Philip Green has shrugged off Arcadia's decline in full year profits, highlighting how the Topshop parent group is adapting to the “fast changing” demands of the retail industry. The group, which owns Topman, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Burton and Wallis as well as Topshop, reported a 3.4 per cent drop in pre-tax profits [...]