World Mental Health Day: How can an app boost your wellbeing? October 8, 2019 This Thursday is World Mental Health Day. Now before you roll your eyes at yet another article discussing the importance of our mental wellbeing, it is worth remembering the massive cost of mental ill-health to society. According to the OECD, the direct and indirect costs of it – such as absences from work and decreased [...]
Worst September since records began as industry body warns of spending slowdown amid ‘spectre of no-deal Brexit’ October 7, 2019 Retailers have endured their worst September since records began, according to an industry body that has blamed “the spectre of a no-deal Brexit” for lower spending. Total sales fell by 1.3 per cent in September, compared with a rise of 0.7 per cent in the previous year. Read more: How business rates can help to [...]
BDO profits jump as partners enjoy pay rise October 7, 2019 BDO has reported a double-digit rise in profit and revenue for the last 12 months, as the accountancy giant ramped up the pressure on its larger under-fire Big Four rivals The beancounter enjoyed its seventh consecutive year of growth after profits rose 26 per cent to £134m and revenues jumped 25 per cent to £578m. [...]
Rising Risk (Part I): Accounting shenanigans and alternative investments October 2, 2019 In this first instalment of a two-part piece, Sebastien Canderle says PE fund managers are getting creative with their accounting – and EBITDA seems particularly malleable. Seasoned auditors know that the risk of fraud increases when a client experiences brisk organic growth or M&A activity. During the 1990s, the most spirited dealmakers included telecoms operators [...]
Audit watchdog beefs up standards in response to corporate failures September 30, 2019 Accountancy regulator the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) today announced it was beefing up audit standards in response to a string of major corporate failures. The FRC said it was introducing a new standard related to going concern status, where auditors judge a company’s financial position. Outsourcer Carillion and department store chain BHS both received clean [...]
Wells Fargo poaches BNY Mellon chief executive September 27, 2019 Wells Fargo has named BNY Mellon boss Charles Scharf as its new chief executive. Scharf will join the firm in October, making him the lender’s third chief executive since the bank became embroiled in a sales scandal in 2016. Read more: Wells Fargo outperforms estimates as profits climb Scharf, who was chief executive at BNY [...]
How can online-only banks win over cautious consumers? September 27, 2019 The direction of travel for banking is clear – we’re moving away from highstreets and onto smartphones. But tech should not outpace consumer confidence, and lessons on how to do that can be drawn from the payments industry. This week Which? reported that a third of UK bank branches have closed in the last five [...]
Foxtons chair steps down after turbulent year September 26, 2019 The chair of Foxtons said he would step down this morning after half a dozen years at the head of he board during which the share price has plummeted. Gary Watts will have stepped down by the time the real estate agent holds its annual general meeting in May next year. Read more: Foxtons sales [...]
Thomas Cook teeters on brink as eleventh hour talks look likely to end in failure September 22, 2019 Thomas Cook was close to collapsing into administration tonight as eleventh hour talks with its lenders looked set to end in failure. The company’s creditors and the government were tonight anticipating that the world’s oldest travel operator would announce it was ceasing trading tomorrow, Sky News reported. Big Four accountancy firm KPMG was tonight being [...]
PwC partner profits jump to £765,000 despite criticism for poor quality of audit work September 16, 2019 Partner profits at PwC UK increased 7.4 per cent to £765,000 this year, despite the firm receiving a dressing down from the regulator for the decline in the quality of its audit work. Profit for the year to 30 June increased to £1.016bn, up from £935m the previous year. Revenue leapt 12 per cent to [...]