Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell attacks audit firms for ‘lining their pockets’ and blames Carillion’s demise on regulator failings May 19, 2018 Labour has pledged to smash Britain’s accountancy firm “cartel” and today demanded a “complete overhaul” of the way company finances are policed. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell attacked larger audit firms, which “operate with impunity whilst lining their pockets”. Speaking at a Labour conference in London this afternoon, McDonnell launched a review of both the accountancy [...]
Carillion collapse: Fail to learn and ‘I don’t think we’ll have a profession in 20 years time’, says accounting chief May 16, 2018 Big Four giants Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG face extinction if they fail to learn the lessons from the failure of contracting giant Carillion, the head of Britain’s leading accountancy institution warned this morning. Carillion’s mid-January collapse is a “watershed moment” for accountants both big and small, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales [...]
MPs slam Carillion’s ‘rotten’ corporate culture and call for break up of the big four audit firms May 16, 2018 MPs today slammed Carillion’s “rotten” corporate culture and called for a break up of big four audit firms. A report published today by the Work and Pensions and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committees said that Carillion’s collapse was a “story of recklessness, hubris and greed”. Read more: Failed outsourcer Carillion hid true level [...]
UK construction output falls to lowest levels since 2012: ONS May 10, 2018 UK construction output fell 2.7 per cent in March, the biggest decline since August 2012, according to the Office for National Statistics. The three-month on three-month decline in the sector was driven by falls in both repair and maintenance, and new work, which fell 2.8 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively, the ONS said. [...]
UK construction rebounds in April led by strong house building recovery May 2, 2018 The UK construction sector has bounced back to a five-month high, led by a strong performance in house building, according to the latest IHS/Markit purchasing managers’ survey. The seasonally adjusted index came in at 52.5 for April, a sharp upturn from the 20-month low seen in March of 47.0, due largely to the winter storm [...]
Interserve share price dives after being landed with £40m bill from accountants PwC EY and consultants Oliver Wyman FTI Consulting April 30, 2018 Under-fire accountants and consultants are to net almost £40m in fees as troubled outsourcer Interserve pulls itself back from the brink. Big Four bean counters such as PwC and EY as well as management consultants FTI Consulting and Oliver Wyman were paid £13.9m during 2017 with a further £25m to be paid in 2018, it [...]
Ready to regulate: Why crypto and the City need each other April 30, 2018 The financial services sector is rife with inefficiency. The global financial system moves trillions every day and serves billions of people in the process, yet legacy technology and siloed systems make change immensely slow, if not impossible. The majority of core banking systems are over 30 years old, and almost half of financial intermediaries suffer [...]
The City reacts to sharp UK GDP slowdown saying the chances of a May interest rate rise are slim to none April 27, 2018 The big news of this morning with the UK economy growing more slowly than expected during the first quarter sent the pound falling as attention turned to the prospects of a May rate rise. GDP grew by 0.1 per cent during the first three months of the year, down from 0.4 per cent in the [...]
Outdated recruitment attitudes are blocking the best young digital talent from getting jobs April 19, 2018 The digital skills gap in the UK is well documented, with employers struggling to fill 43 per cent of STEM vacancies, according to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, and the Federation of Small Businesses reporting that 22 per cent of business owners think a lack of digital skills is holding them back. But [...]
Inflation falls to lowest in a year: Here’s what economists think the Bank of England will do April 18, 2018 Inflation fell in March in a further boost to British households who have suffered a year of real wage falls, but the Bank of England’s job may have become trickier, according to economists. Consumer price inflation (CPI) fell by 0.2 percentage points in March to hit 2.7 per cent. The Bank targets two per cent [...]