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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KPMG wields axe again with 200 tech and cyber roles on the block

September 15, 2026

KPMG UK is set to lay off hundreds of staff in its data and tech division in the latest round of redundancies at the Big Four firm. The new round of cuts will affect 200 roles from its advisory business, according to the Financial Times, and amounts to about 4 per cent of the firm’s [...]
Consulting giant Accenture to pay £18.5m to settle probe into hiring practices

September 15, 2026

New York-listed consultancy giant Accenture has agreed to pay the US government $25m (£18.5m) to settle allegations over its diversity practices. The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that Accenture violated federal anti-discrimination requirements while certifying compliance to secure federal contracts. The US government claims that the Dublin-headquartered firm allocated costs related to these hiring and [...]
Europe’s boardroom pay gap with North America narrows amid battle for expertise

September 15, 2026

European financial institutions have aggressively closed the transatlantic pay gap at board level, driven by efforts to attract top-tier and specialist talent as boards face into a growing range of complex challenges. An EY analysis of more than 2,000 financial sector directors shows European non-executive remuneration surged 10 per cent in 2025, more than double [...]
Gaming platform Roblox sues British charity

September 14, 2026

The group behind US gaming giant Roblox is suing a UK food brand and its philanthropic arm over alleged intellectual property infringement. Roblox Corporation, the Californian video game developer, filed a lawsuit in the London High Court on Friday against Roc Co, a British grocery business, and its charity arm, according to filings seen by City [...]
Crispin Odey loses appeal to overturn lifetime financial services ban

September 14, 2026

Former hedge fund tycoon Crispin Odey has failed to overturn a £1.8m fine and lifetime ban from working in the financial services industry. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) earlier this year hit Odey with the fine and banned him from working in the industry after a series of historic sexual assault allegations from former female [...]
City lawyer pleads not guilty to insider dealing charges

September 11, 2026

A City lawyer has pleaded not guilty to five counts of alleged insider dealing for trading in the assets of maternity fashion brand Seraphine Group. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed in July that it charged Richard Bloomfield, 38, with allegedly using inside information he obtained while advising on the buyout of London-listed maternity brand [...]
Regulator opens triple probe into Prax Group’s oil audits

September 11, 2026

The audit watchdog has launched three separate investigations into the auditing of the collapsed UK energy challenger Prax Group. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) opened probes into the financial oversight and audit of Prax’s parent company, State Oil, and will also examine Big Four KPMG’s audit of the fiscal years ended 28 February 2022 and [...]
FTSE boss calls on City businesses to hire former offenders

September 9, 2026

Beazley chief executive Adrian Cox has encouraged City business leaders to hire ex-offenders as he believes in “looking beyond convictions and recognising potential”. The boss of the FTSE specialist insurer, which agreed to be acquired by Zurich Insurance for approximately £8.14bn earlier this year, said: “City employers can transform lives while strengthening their organisations’ access [...]
Why Labour can’t kick Whitehall’s consultancy habit

September 9, 2026

Since coming to power, Labour has been vocal about cutting spending on external consultants to save taxpayers money. However, data suggests it has actually moved in the opposite direction, as the private sector shows it is a necessity and not a luxury, writes Maria Ward-Brennan. The pledge to cut back on external consultants was first [...]
Ousted former law firm chief launches bid to wrestle back £36bn BHP lawsuit

September 9, 2026

The ousted former chief executive of the law firm leading the largest group claim in UK history against mining giant BHP is behind a bid to wrestle the £36bn case from a firm where he previously served as a director, City AM understands. Thomas Goodhead, who founded Pogust Goodhead (formerly PGMBM) in 2018 with US disputes lawyer Harris [...]

Healey hails ‘new age of industrialisation’ brought by Royal Navy

Should Vuori ditch Draper over injury-hit tennis season?

Two countries, one holiday: Turkey’s glitzy Bodrum and Greece’s unbuttoned Kos

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

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