City bets on Bank of England rate hike ramp up again after strong jobs figures November 16, 2021 City bets on the Bank of England hiking interest rates soon are ramping up once again after fresh jobless data showed the worst effects of the end of the furlough scheme have been largely avoided. The Old Lady will turn the dial at its next meeting in December due to the labour market looking less [...]
Big Four accountants warned by regulator to improve audits November 16, 2021 The head of the UK accounting watchdog has told the Big Four audit firms they need to run their own businesses better, before advising other companies, according to reports. Sir Jon Thompson, chief executive of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) made his remarks ahead of the regulator’s launch today of its first guide for accountants [...]
Not going out: sales down 4.5 per cent for pubs, bars and restaurants November 15, 2021 The hospitality sector is struggling to bounce back from Covid-19 as Brits take a cautious attitude to spending post-lockdown. Rolling sales for managed pubs, bars and restaurants are down 4.5 per cent over the past 12 months as the sector continues to be hit hard by supply chain pressures, high energy prices and recruitment issues. [...]
Top accountancy firms more likely to hire white applicants November 12, 2021 White applicants are more likely to be successful when applying for jobs in the top UK accountancy firms, over those from ethnic minority or lower socio-economic backgrounds, according to a new report. The report, published today, by charity Access Accountancy looked at the socio-economic backgrounds of people who applied for jobs at ten accounting companies, [...]
UK recovery blinks in the face of supply chain breakdowns leaving economy stumbling behind G7 rivals November 11, 2021 The UK economic recovery is blinking in the face of severe supply chain breakdowns and soaring inflation, leaving Britain stumbling behind its G7 rivals. Over the three months to September, the British economy grew 1.3 per cent, much lower than experts’ expectations, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Worryingly, the ONS revised down [...]
EY partner keeps job after lewd comments to trainee November 9, 2021 An EY partner has escaped being stricken off, after telling a female trainee “I’ll be bashing you from behind this afternoon,” on a company skiing trip, according to reports. Neil Hutt was found to have behaved in an “obscene and aggressive” manner, by a disciplinary hearing into the 51-year-old’s behaviour at an annual company trip [...]
KPMG eyes larger piece of UK’s asset management pie as it lures EY and UBS veterans November 8, 2021 Accountancy giant KPMG is ramping up its efforts in the UK’s wealth and asset management space as the firm has appointed a range of new partners. KPMG said it has appointed Dean Brown as a partner and Shelley Doorey-Williams as an Associate Partner in its market leading Wealth and Asset Management practice. Brown will support [...]
Cop26: Sunak to force all UK financial firms to publish net-zero transition plans November 2, 2021 The UK’s financial institutions and listed firms will soon have to publish strategies on how they will transition to net-zero by 2050 as Rishi Sunak today unveiled his plan to make Britain the world’s first “net-zero financial centre”. The chancellor today said great efforts have been made to “rewire the entire global financial system for net [...]
Investors warn Big Four of AGM rebellions over climate accounting November 2, 2021 An investor group managing around $4.5tn worth of assets have issued a warning to the top four auditing giants to start including climate risk into their audits, or risk rebellions at AGMs, according to reports. In a letter seen by Reuters, which first reported the news, the investors told the Big Four auditors that unless [...]
France calls for day-long ceasefire amid post-Brexit fishing saga November 1, 2021 French president Emmanuel Macron has given the UK until the end of climate negotiations at COP26, to fix the ongoing fishing row. “The British are going to come back to us tomorrow with further proposals. We’ll see where we are at the end of the day,” Macron told reporters in Glasgow. “We won’t be bringing [...]