Big Four rival? No, we’re old friends, insists ex-Deloitte boss as he launches Cogital – a new firm with big ambitions October 24, 2016 In August there was plenty of noise around the announcement that the former boss of accounting giant Deloitte, John Connolly, was starting a new bean-counting business, Cogital. The question was whether the project, which was innovatively backed by private equity house HgCapital, was the latest attempt to break the stranglehold of the Big Four? If anyone might be able to do it, then [...]
CommuterClub’s co-founders talk desk dividers and the future of mobility October 24, 2016 We sat opposite each other and, although there was a barrier between us (a physical desk divider) we’d work late into the night and bounce ideas around,” says Petko Plachkov, co-founder of travel payment plan firm CommuterClub. He’s describing working at fintech legend Clive Cowdery’s firm, the Resolution Group, with his co-founder, Imran Gulamhuseinwala. “I joined [...]
If the US election was being fought on M&A grounds, there would be a landslide October 21, 2016 Dealmakers will be closely watching the results of the US presidential election next month – a lot might hinge on the outcome. A survey of 1,600 global dealmakers found 56 per cent believed that Donald Trump would have a negative impact on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity. But they’re not too worried: just 15 per [...]
City Moves for 18 October 2016 | Who’s switching jobs October 18, 2016 Saffery Champness Accountancy firm Saffery Champness has recruited Dermot Callinan as a partner in its Harrogate office. He joins from KPMG, where he recently served as head of the UK private client advisory team. Dermot is a specialist in domestic and international personal taxation and his clients include wealthy individuals (both UK and non-UK domiciled), [...]
Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell takes a swipe at the City over passporting rights October 17, 2016 John McDonnell has criticised speculation that the government is considering continuing to pay some contributions to the EU, to maintain “passporting rights” for City firms and other sectors. These would allow the companies to continue trading across the continent. Britain has voted to leave the EU, it has not voted for paying huge fees for [...]
The UK has fallen out of the top five M&A destinations for the first time thanks to uncertainty over Brexit October 17, 2016 The UK’s Brexit vote, and resulting uncertainty, has pushed the UK down the pecking order of countries global executives want to invest in, a new report has suggested. But EY’s Global Capital Confidence Barometer predicted that the UK will “bounce back as a top M&A destination of choice” after a short-term “pause for thought”. The [...]
EY Item Club: UK economy is surprisingly resilient – but faces a “prolonged period of weaker growth” October 17, 2016 The British economy will be hit by a "prolonged period of weaker growth" as the impact of the EU referendum begins to be felt – but will continue to be resilient, an influential forecaster has predicted. The EY Item Club, which uses the same forecasting model as the Treasury, said GDP growth will hit 1.9 [...]
London Remainers drag down consumer confidence in the capital October 17, 2016 London consumers are feeling less confident than the rest of the UK, data out today shows. Confidence fell in London during the third quarter despite climbing to a five-year high across the rest of the country, according to the latest survey from accountancy giant Deloitte. Consumer sentiment in the capital fell by three percentage points over [...]
Float or sink? These eight companies show how London’s IPO market is giving off mixed signals October 13, 2016 Is London’s flotation market faltering, or is there cause for optimism after an EU referendum hiatus on activity? There have been mixed signals coming from the City this week. Here are some of the big stories from the initial public offering (IPO) market currently: TI Fluid Systems: OFF The Bain Capital-owned auto supplier this morning confirmed it [...]
EY reaches settlement over long-running $7.3bn Nortel Networks bankruptcy saga October 13, 2016 A settlement has been reached in the long-running global insolvency of Canadian telecoms giant Nortel Networks' European-based companies. Three groups of creditors, including 33,000 UK pensioners, Canadian pensioners and US bondholders, had been unable to agree who gets what from the $7.3bn (£6bn) to be distributed since the company’s collapse seven years ago. The battle has been over [...]