Growth rate of UK R&D funding slips to the lowest in nearly a decade November 20, 2020 UK businesses spent a total of £25.9bn on research and development (R&D) in 2019, an increase of just 3.3 per cent on the previous year’s spending.
Treasury rebuffs calls from City banks for help chasing bad debts from Covid loans November 20, 2020 Treasury rebuffs calls from City banks for help chasing bad debts from Covid loans
COVID-19 has changed investors’ priorities but UK attractiveness remains resilient November 20, 2020 COVID-19 has reshaped how international investors think about where to invest in the future. How a country has dealt with the pandemic and the measures it has put in place to prevent a future crisis have become a top priority. Every year, EY tracks the performance and perceptions of the UK as a destination for [...]
Pace of foreign investment into UK to slow in next 12 months November 19, 2020 Fewer companies are planning to invest in the UK in the next 12 months than were planning to do so back in April, new data has revealed. Accountant EY’s UK Attractiveness Survey shows that the proportion of companies planning such investment has fallen from 10-year highs of 31 per cent in the spring to 25 [...]
Spending watchdog criticises government over £18bn Covid contracts November 18, 2020 The UK’s public spending watchdog has slapped the government on the wrist for failures of transparency when awarding lucrative private contracts worth around £18bn to companies during the coronavirus crisis, highlighting errors and potential conflicts of interest. The National Audit Office’s (NAO) report comes amid claims that the government has awarded contracts to businesses with [...]
Ban EY from public contract bids following professional misconduct, urges charity November 17, 2020 The government should consider banning big four auditor EY from bidding on public contracts for three years following a number of recent scandals, charity Spotlight on Corruption has said. The charity has written a 17-page letter to government that accuses EY of “grave professional misconduct” that “renders its integrity questionable”, and suggests there should be [...]
KPMG to sell restructuring arm to win more work November 9, 2020 Audit giant KPMG is to sell its restructuring arm because conflicts of interest and regulatory scrutiny are preventing it from winning work. In an email to colleagues KPMG UK chairman and senior partner Bill Michael said that concerns relating to conflicts of interest arising from its existing work was likely to “limit the restructuring clients [...]
TMT providers can unlock customer value through credible sustainability actions November 9, 2020 The environmental and sustainability credentials of companies across all sectors are becoming increasingly important to discerning consumers, and this is none more apparent than in the TMT sector. EY’s survey which canvassed the views of 2,000 consumers in the UK, reveals that over half (56%) of UK consumers are willing to pay slightly more for [...]
Goldman Sachs to shift $60bn of assets to Germany ahead of Brexit November 7, 2020 Goldman Sachs is set to shift as much as $60bn (£45.5bn) of assets to Germany, as the banking giant becomes the latest City stalwart to beef up EU operations ahead of Brexit. The Wall Street bank, which has previously warned that a “difficult” Brexit would impact its investment plans in the UK, will shift between [...]
UK house prices see fastest growth in four years but monthly rate slows November 6, 2020 UK house prices grew at their fastest annual rate since 2016 in October, new figures have shown, although month-on-month price growth slowed considerably. House prices jumped 7.5 per cent in October, according to the Halifax house price index, compared to 7.3 per cent in September. Yet growth slowed to just 0.3 per cent when looked [...]