Byron saved from bankruptcy but 650 staff to be axed July 31, 2020 Burger chain Byron has been saved from bankruptcy this afternoon after it was bought by Calveton UK, with current investors taking a minority stake. However, more than half of the popular high street restaurant’s stores and employees will be axed as a result of the deal. Only 20 of Byron’s 51 restaurants will continue to [...]
UK retailers must adapt business models to survive pandemic, experts say July 31, 2020 Around half of UK retailers must pivot their businesses in order to avoid collapse during the coronavirus pandemic, industry experts said. UK retailers need to move away from traditional, store-centric models and embrace online shopping, the latest KPMG Ipsos Retail Think Tank (RTT) said. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated changes that were already happening in [...]
EY prepared ‘unqualified audit’ for Wirecard last month July 24, 2020 EY reportedly prepared an unqualified audit opinion on Wirecard’s accounts in early June, just weeks before the company collapsed. The auditing firm delivered a draft version of its official audit opinion, according to the Financial Times. Accountants usually share a draft to give clients the opportunity to look over the numbers and assessments. The draft [...]
Dyson to cut 900 jobs globally due to virus impact July 23, 2020 Vacuum cleaner firm Dyson said it will cut 900 jobs from its global workforce, as the coronavirus pandemic impacts consumer demand for its products. Approximately 4,000 of Dyson’s 14,000 staff are based in the UK. “These proposals would regrettably result in around 600 redundancies in the UK and 300 in the rest of the world,” [...]
Former Wirecard boss Markus Braun arrested for second time July 22, 2020 The former chief executive of Wirecard has been rearrested as Munich prosecutors accuse him of committing a multiyear fraud. Markus Braun stepped down from the company last month after being accused of misrepresenting the payments company’s accounts and of market manipulation by falsifying income from transactions with so-called third-party acquirers. The Financial Times reported prosecutors [...]
How badly will the UK unemployment rate spike when furlough ends? July 22, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s furlough scheme has so far saved the UK unemployment rate from sharp increases during the coronavirus lockdown, but it is drawing to an end. Consequently job losses are set to spike after furlough concludes in October, according to economists. Currently the government is paying 80 per cent of over 9m British workers’ [...]
KPMG set to slash jobs and pension contributions in cost-cutting drive July 22, 2020 KPMG is set to cut more than 100 jobs and slash contributions to employees’ pensions in a bid to slash costs during the pandemic. The Big Four firm is expected to cut just under 200 jobs across the UK ahead of the long-awaited reform of the audit reform. Sky News first reported that partners and [...]
Klarna restricts lending rules during lockdown July 20, 2020 Fintech lender Klarna said it has tightened its lending criteria during the coronavirus pandemic. Its vice president Luke Griffiths said Klarna is only accepting new customers that it believes will repay on time, and is increasing the frequency with which it reviews its acceptance criteria. “[Klarna’s] default rate is less than one per cent and [...]
EY told Wirecard that KPMG audit ‘risked misinterpretation’ July 20, 2020 EY reportedly told Wirecard that a draft of an independent audit lacked “context” and could lead to wrong conclusions about the firm. EY, which has been the German payments firm’s auditor for over a decade, intervened a day before the publication of the KPMG report in April, which cast doubt over Wirecard, according to the [...]
Grant Thornton faces legal action over Patisserie Valerie audit July 19, 2020 Grant Thornton is reportedly facing legal action over its auditing of cafe chain Patisserie Valerie, which collapsed last year following allegations of suspected fraud. Liquidator FRP Advisory has hired law firm Mishcon de Reya to explore a claim, potentially worth tens of millions of pounds, against Grant Thornton, which audited the cake shop’s accounts for [...]