BDO and PKF in talks for audit merger deal November 7, 2012 BDO and PKF are in advanced talks to merge their UK operations, the accountancy and advisory firms revealed yesterday. A tie-up, which is expected to take place early next year, would give the group extra firepower to compete with Grant Thornton for mid-market audit and business advisory clients. The firms said the enlarged company would [...]
Mullan joins England fold as Hartley and Lawes await news October 29, 2012 ENGLAND have followed the call-ups of the hooker David Paice and lock George Robson with that of the prop Matt Mullan after concerns arose surrounding Joe Marler’s tight hamstring. Paice and Robson were turned to on Sunday as potential respective replacements for Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes after the Northampton pair suffered knee injuries in [...]
The public order act needs reform: It is an insult to British free speech October 24, 2012 DISGRACEFULLY inadequate”. “Jobless scroungers”. This is just a small sample of the insults thrown around yesterday morning. And that was just in the national newspapers. A quick venture onto Twitter would reveal thousands more, many unprintable on these pages. We might disagree or feel offended. But expressing insults (and being on the receiving end of [...]
What the other papers say this morning October 22, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Lloyds eyes banker bonus shake-up Lloyds Banking Group is examining whether to ditch the concept of annual bonuses for senior staff and extend the timeframe of longer-term incentives to up to 10 years, according to people briefed on a project to overhaul remuneration. Xstrata unfairly disparaged says boss The board of Xstrata has [...]
Law firms shun private equity October 22, 2012 British law firms are unlikely to sell to private equity investors, a survey said today, dealing a blow to the buyout firms that are searching for deals in the sector. Some 77 per cent of law firms polled by legal publisher Thomson Reuters Sweet & Maxwell said they do not think private equity is an [...]
Bubbly, Boris and banter all sparkle at our 2012 awards October 17, 2012 To the Grange Hotel in the heart of St Paul’s last night for City A.M.’s third annual awards ceremony. After a day of glorious autumnal sunshine, 500 of the City’s best and brightest worked the red carpet and were greeted in the atrium of The Grange with glasses of bubbly at the champagne reception, sponsored [...]
Eversheds hands Bryan Hughes second term as chief executive October 9, 2012 BRYAN Hughes will remain as chief executive of Eversheds until at least 2017, the law firm said yesterday, after he won an uncontested leadership election. Hughes replaced David Gray as chief executive in 2008, and earlier this year announced a new three-year strategy for the firm, including proposals to move to a Swiss verein structure [...]
Businesses need to wake up to the real and present danger of cyber-crime is October 8, 2012 SPEAKING in Budapest, the Foreign Secretary William Hague recently announced that cyber-crime is “one of the greatest global and strategic challenges of our time”. In July, the director general of the Security Service Jonathan Evans stated that cyber security ranks alongside terrorism as one of the four key security challenges facing the UK. There is [...]
Dear Prime Minister: 45 MPs sign letter criticising BAE/EADS merger October 7, 2012 THE proposed takeover of BAE systems by EADS raises a significant number of issues which have profound consequences for Britain. Not only does Her Majesty’s Government have an obligation to make a political decision on the takeover, as the guardian of the “golden share”, but it also has a duty to safeguard Britain’s national security [...]
Looper wants to be a Matrix for a new generation. In reality, it is nothing more than a forgettable, if engaging, sci-fi romp September 27, 2012 FILM LOOPER Cert 15 | *** Looper is one of those movies that keeps you engaged but then leaves you feeling slightly empty. Set in the year 2044, when the world is something of a mess, powerful criminal groups run the city and everywhere is awash with drug-taking, law breaking delinquents. The “looper” is prince [...]