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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EY extends global HQ stay on Thames

January 6, 2026

Big Four giant EY has renewed the lease on its global headquarters until 2040. The firm’s UK and global HQ is at 1 More London Place, whose lease was set to expire in 2028 before the firm greenlit a contract renewal. The ten-storey building on the south bank of the River Thames, with 35,000 sq [...]
Interpath and beyond: The surge of private equity investment in professional services

January 5, 2026

It was revealed this morning that Big Four giant KPMG’s former restructuring division, Interpath Advisory, was in exclusive negotiations with Bridgepoint to acquire a majority stake in its business, the latest in a string of private equity deals in the professional services sector. KPMG sold the arm to private equity group HIG Capital in 2021 for £400m. [...]
Football-style firings in SMEs: A risky game for business owners

January 5, 2026

HR professionals are seeing SMEs start to copy football’s “sack the boss” culture when things go south for the company, but warn that this strategy could turn into an “expensive legal headache”. Managers of major football teams, especially those in the Premier League, can operate like a revolving door when the team is in a [...]
Howden expands US footprint with acquisition of Atlantic Global Risk

January 5, 2026

Insurance giant Howden has acquired US independent transaction-liability insurance broker Atlantic Global Risk as part of its US expansion. New York-headquartered Atlantic Group has over 110 people across four key business areas: representations and warranties insurance, tax liability insurance, contingent risk insurance, and credit risk insurance. Howden’s focus in the USA is a strategic and [...]
Trump’s push for ‘crypto capital’ sparks PwC shift towards digital assets

January 5, 2026

The US arm of the Big Four giant PwC has changed its stance on cryptocurrency work following President Donald Trump’s fondness for digital assets. Trump has pledged to make the US the “crypto capital of the world” after passing the ‘Genius Act’, which governs digital assets such as stablecoins, into law last year. As a [...]
US law firms lead London hiring, fuelled by private capital growth

January 5, 2026

Legal recruiters for big law firms in the City had a busy 2025 as hiring for the most senior lawyers surged, with the trend expected to continue into the new year. As employment figures rose in the UK to above the 5 per cent mark in 2025, according to figures by legal recruiter Edwards Gibson, [...]
The six-figure club: Associates at elite US legal firms set for bonus boom

December 30, 2025

More than 60 per cent of UK workers aren’t expecting a Christmas bonus this year, but that’s not the case for City lawyers, some of who will receive generous six-figure payouts. Many US law firms operate under the Cravath Scale, named after the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, a transparent lockstep system of associate [...]
Tax crackdown in 2026: Why experts predict a wave of enforcement actions

December 30, 2025

Under the Labour government, HMRC has shifted from a reactive to a highly proactive stance, and tax experts expect increased tax enforcement in the new year. The government has committed to invest an additional £555m annually in HMRC to boost tax compliance and transform its technology. The investment aims to raise an extra £5.1bn in [...]
Accountancy body reverts to in-person exams over AI cheating fears

December 29, 2025

The UK’s accounting body, which has almost 260,000 members, is planning to halt remote exams amid a surge of students cheating with AI. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has said that from March it will no longer allow students to take online exams, except in exceptional circumstances. Remote testing, like in many universities [...]
Everyman boss departs with immediate effect weeks after profit warning

December 29, 2025

The boss of luxury cinema chain Everyman Media Group has stepped down weeks after warning over sales and profits following poor box office trading. Shareholders were informed on Monday morning that Alex Scrimgeour was stepping down as chief executive with immediate effect, with current non-executive director Farah Golant to take over on an interim basis [...]

Serie A won’t catch the Premier League by selling its rights better

Serie A won’t catch the Premier League by selling its rights better

Lotus, Porsche and Corvette: the best sports cars to buy in 2026

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

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