British consultants face slowdown as corporate spending slumps Consulting The British consulting industry is set to grow by a single digit this year as the sector faces a slowdown in spending from corporate clients. According to research from the Management Consultancies Association (MCA), the primary representative body for management consulting firms in the UK, the UK consulting sector’s predicted growth for 2026 stands at [...]
Professional services firms can either embrace AI or be swept away by it Opinion Professional services firms must strategically integrate AI to remain competitive, while ensuring that core human values like trust and judgement remain at the heart of what they do, says Phil Jenkins Professional services firms are at a technological fork in the road. One route involves embracing AI and doing it well. The other, either ignoring [...]
Forvis Mazars and top partner hit with £600,000 fine for audit failings Accountancy The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has hit accountancy giant Forvis Mazars and a top partner at the firm, David Allen, with a combined £610,537 for audit failings relating to a retail firm listed on the London Stock Exchange’s main market. The FRC said it has issued the fines following an investigation into both Forvis Mazars [...]
Thin end of the wedge? LLPs brace for major tax overhaul July 2, 2026 The maths genius behind trading firm XTX, Alex Gerko, stands high in the rankings of Britain’s top taxpayers, having paid more than £330m to HMRC last year. For good measure, he also handed out more than £150m to charities and good causes in 2025, focusing on education and supporting talented math graduates to pursue PhDs [...]
Consulting giants face up to AI-reckoning June 25, 2026 Shares in major consultancy firms have dropped sharply as investors fret over the impact of AI on the industry. Maria Ward-Brennan and Rosie Harris-Davison look at whether the threat is real. A bloodbath is unfolding across the professional services sector as artificial intelligence (AI) hammers the shares of global consulting giants like Accenture, IBM and [...]
KPMG chair and senior partners to quit firm over audit scandal fallout June 23, 2026 KPMG Australia’s chair will leave the Big Four firm in the fallout of a scandal over misusing confidential client data to win audit contracts, along with two senior partners. Martin Sheppard, who has held his position as chairman since 2023, will “shortly” resign from his position at KPMG to be replaced with an independent chair, [...]
City law firm denies ties to KPMG Australia scandal June 22, 2026 City-headquartered law firm Ashurst has denied its involvement in investigating allegations at KPMG Australia as the Big Four firms’ scandal fallout continues to heat up down under. Ashurst reportedly carried out an investigation from June to August 2025 over allegations made by a whistleblower against an unnamed former executive, following the Big Four firm conducting [...]
Professional services firms the ‘flavour of the month’ for cyberattacks June 19, 2026 Professional services firms, particularly law firms, are the “current flavour of the month” for cyberattacks, driven by the valuable client information the sector guards. Speaking to City AM, Holly Waszak, head of cyber claims advocacy at Marsh, said: “We’re seeing insurers come to us with law firms on their books, and they are trying to [...]
PwC UK chief swipes global role in international shake-up June 19, 2026 The UK boss of PwC has been appointed to head up a larger role in the Big Four firm’s global network as the consultancy looks to centralise decision-making and reshape its international executive structure. Marco Amitrano will take up the new position on 1 July in addition to his current post leading the professional services [...]
Ditched by clients and Australian government: What is happening down under at KPMG? June 15, 2026 KPMG’s Australian arm has been ditched by the country’s government for audit work until September, following the fallout of allegations that the firm mishandled client information, in the latest nightmare for the Big Four firm down under. The Big Four giant will be unable to bid for any Australian government contracts until September 2026, as [...]