By: Maria Ward-Brennan

Professional Services Editor Maria Ward-Brennan is the Professional Services Editor at City AM, focused on law, Big Four, and other management and accounting consulting firms. She edits the Beyond The Billable newsletter and column. She was previously a litigation reporter at The Lawyer. Contact her via email at maria.ward-brennan@cityam.com or on X @MariaW_B.

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Former KPMG chief joins £10m funding round for AI-powered audit challenger

June 16, 2026

A Berlin-based audit AI firm has raised over £10m in a fundraising round, including from Dawn Capital, to expand into the UK market as a solution to the skilled labour shortage in the audit industry. Cortea, founded in 2024 by Valentin Neumann and Philipp Hovelmann, pitches itself as an answer for firms under pressure to [...]
Mayer Brown defends ‘do not disturb’ policy despite criticism from rivals

June 15, 2026

When the US law firm Mayer Brown, based in the City, implemented a policy that partners should not disturb associates during their holidays, its London office managing partner said some rival partners criticised the move. Speaking to City AM, Dominic Griffiths said: “When I introduced that policy [three years ago], there were one or two [...]
KPMG report on AI found riddled with AI hallucinations

June 12, 2026

A new probe into Big Four KPMG’s report on agentic AI found that the majority of its references were flawed, amid the latest news of AI-hallucinated reports published by professional services firms. The investigation, conducted by GPTZero, focused on KPMG’s October 2025 report, ‘Total Experience: Redefining Excellence in the Age of Agentic AI’, which summarises [...]
Why do so many Gen Zs like me love the Pope?

June 12, 2026

Pope Leo XIV is appealing to a new generation with TikTok memes, student saints and a firm stance against AI, says Maria Ward-Brennan When Pope Leo XIV was first elected, I’ll be honest: I wasn’t overly keen. Part of me believed the Pope should come from a Catholic country. But this US-born man has changed [...]
KPMG’s Summer Friday half-day rollback signals deeper woes for Big Four giants

June 11, 2026

Big Four giant KPMG’s removal of its Friday early finish for employees is affecting branding and souring the mood among staff, who may see this as a signal to reconsider a career at the firm. Time spent working at a Big Four giant was once a prized bauble to list on a CV. But with [...]
‘Bogus claim’: Ryanair hits back at watchdog probe into family seating policy

June 11, 2026

Ryanair is under investigation by the British competition watchdog over its policy that parents must pay to sit with their children. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a probe into Ryanair’s terms and conditions (T&Cs), which require at least one parent to sit with their children aged 2-11 when they fly and make [...]
Rising salaries for junior lawyers put pressure on senior associates’ pay packages

June 11, 2026

US law firms continue to drive a fierce salary war in London, leaving UK firms scrambling to keep up with soaring pay for junior lawyers, but as starting salaries rise, growing pay gaps threaten to unsettle senior associates, writes Maria Ward-Brennan. As of next month, London associates at Quinn Emanuel will see their salaries increase [...]
IBM’s consulting chief warns AI will ‘implode’ unprepared rivals

June 10, 2026

IBM Consulting, under Mohamad Ali, claims to have surged ahead in AI by pioneering a human-plus-digital workforce and transforming its own operations before selling innovative solutions to clients, leaving less-prepared consulting rivals scrambling to keep up, writes Maria Ward-Brennan. IBM’s consulting chief, Mohamad Ali, warns that AI will “implode” unprepared rivals, claiming the group has [...]
Private equity-backed Ryan breaks with billable hour tradition as AI reshapes sector

June 9, 2026

Private equity-backed tax specialist Ryan says its value-based pricing is built for the age of AI, unlike competitors that depend on traditional hourly billing. Most of the professional services sector operates under the billable-hour system, in which the specific amount of time spent working on client tasks can be invoiced. But the rise in AI [...]
Regulator opens probe into PwC over WH Smith audit debacle

June 9, 2026

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has launched an investigation into PwC over its audit of WH Smith that resulted in delayed annual results last year. Last August, WH Smith shares plummeted by up to 40 per cent after it admitted to an accounting error that overstated expected headline trading profit in its North American business [...]

Bailey: Businesses trying not to pass costs on to consumers

HMRC investigations into football net extra £110m

Cloth Cornhill review: A London icon returns – and it’s fabulous

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

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