PwC scraps 2:1 entry requirement for graduates as City war for talent heats up August 15, 2022 BIG four accountant PwC will start recruiting graduates who missed out on a 2:1 degree at university, the firm announced today, in a bid to “diversify” its intake amid an ongoing City talent war. Graduates who received a 2:2 – colloquially known as a “Desmond” in reference to the late South African priest Desmond Tutu [...]
Big Four accountancy firms capture larger share of UK legal market August 15, 2022 Major corporations are snubbing traditional law firms in increasingly going to consultancies and accounting firms for legal advice, according to new research from Thomson Reuters. The Big Four accounting firms – PwC, KPMG, EY, and Deloitte – are driving growth in the alternative legal services provider (ASLP) sector, as UK corporates increasingly turn to them [...]
UK’s professional services sector weathers economic headwinds August 13, 2022 The UK’s professional services sector has continued to grow its turnovers in the face of major economic headwinds, new UK government data shows. The accountancy sector’s turnovers increased 3.7 per cent, from £3.41bn in May to £3.54bn in June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows. The country’s legal sector also saw its turnovers [...]
City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile? August 12, 2022 City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every morning. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Deloitte Deloitte has built out its financial advisory practice with a new London-based director. Stepping into the real estate team, ex-KPMG Tracey Hancock brings some experiences from across CBRE and JLL. Hancock, a chartered surveyor and registered [...]
KPMG restarts UK government contract bids August 8, 2022 KPMG has restarted competing for UK government contracts, after the Big Four accounting firm withdrew from public sector tenders last December, following a series of high-profile accounting scandals. The Big Four accountancy firm re-commenced bidding for UK public sector contracts in early-June, after it pulled out of competing for lucrative UK government contracts at the [...]
Big Four switch: Alliance Pharma hires Deloitte as its new auditor after KPMG resigns August 8, 2022 Alliance Pharma has appointed Big Four giant Deloitte as auditor after the pharmaceutical company’s go-to for six years KMPG resigned. Deloitte will be the company’s auditor until the end of 2022 and will need to be approved by Alliance Pharma’s shareholders to be re-appointed for 2023. It was appointed following a tender process, which KPMG [...]
Big Four auditors up advisory fee incomes as challengers capture larger share of audit work August 5, 2022 The UK’s challenger auditing firms are increasingly capturing a larger share of Britain’s audit market, as the Big Four increasingly generate their revenues through non audit work, new data from the UK’s accounting watchdog shows. The research shows smaller auditors upped their audit fee incomes at almost twice the rate of the Big Four, as [...]
Auditors should stop ‘complaining’ about fines and improve the quality of their work, FRC chief says August 3, 2022 The head of the UK’s accounting watchdog has said Britain’s major auditors should stop “complaining” about fines and start improving the quality of their work instead. In an interview with the Financial Times, Financial Reporting Council (FRC) chief executive Sir Jon Thompson said “the solution” to auditors’ problems with fines is “entirely” in their own [...]
KPMG’s UAE business holds meeting with clients to restore confidence in firm August 2, 2022 The chief executive of KPMG’s business in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has held a series of face-to-face meetings with key clients, in an effort to restore confidence in the accounting firm’s management, following reports a coup within the Emirati firm. Nader Haffer, chief executive of KPMG Lower Gulf, hosted the client meetings after partners [...]
High profile scandals saw UK’s audit watchdog hand out record £46.5m in fines last year July 28, 2022 The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) issued a record £46.5m in fines over the past year, after the audit watchdog handed out a series of huge fines to Britain’s top accounting firms in the wake of a series of high-profile accounting scandals. The value of fines issued by the UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) [...]