Growth in revenues is good but it’s even better if you look more carefully, says KPMG boss December 16, 2016 KPMG said its annual results proved it had moved beyond simply being a Big Four beancounter as it joined competitors in smashing through the £2bn revenue barrier. The UK arm, based in Canary Wharf, is the last to announce its annual return, reporting performance for the 12 months to the end of September. EY's UK business reported revenues [...]
The meatiest deal of 2016? Private equity firm buys majority steak in Dutch butcher December 13, 2016 A European private equity group has announced a meaty new acquisition. Equistone Partners Europe has bought a majority stake in Group of Butchers alongside the Dutch firm’s current management. Founded in 1997 under the name Dutch Grill Specialities and headquartered in Tilburg, Group of Butchers is a producer of high-end meat products sold at supermarkets [...]
Public funds committed to infrastructure and construction have increased by £40bn since March December 8, 2016 The total amount of public money locked in to infrastructure and public construction projects has leapt by almost £40bn, or eight per cent, in the last six months. Figures from KPMG show that the total value of a combined government infrastructure and construction pipeline is now £502.3bn, up from £463.4bn in March. 60 per cent [...]
City Moves for 8 December 2016 | Who’s switching jobs December 8, 2016 Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has appointed Mark Hastings as a partner based in the firm's London office. He had previously been a partner at Addleshaw Goddard where he was head of the firm's civil fraud group. Mark has been retained to represent clients in a number of the largest cases to [...]
Revealed: The best places to work in the UK December 7, 2016 Businesses can breath a sigh of relief – the trend of trying to emulate Google's particular brand of work environment with bean bags, slides, hot desking and food freebies might just be over. The tech company has slipped out of the top 10 best places to work list for the first time, coming 13th in the annual ranking by [...]
Brexit vote hits deal numbers in third quarter December 6, 2016 The total number of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) involving UK companies in the three months to September almost halved from the previous quarter. The data from the Office of National Statistics is the first indication of how deal activity has been impacted following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union in June’s referendum. In total, [...]
Black Friday wasn’t quite the sales boost retailers may have expected December 6, 2016 Black Friday wasn't quite the spending boom that retailers were expecting. Figures from KPMG and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show that like-for-like UK retail sales increased 0.6 per cent in November. Read more: Piccadilly Line delays likely to continue until after Christmas, TfL admits And, although non-food sales increased around 40 per cent on [...]
Digital defence school to bolster UK’s cyber ranks December 4, 2016 Bletchley Park will again house the nation’s top talent as cyber security threats soar, writes Billy Bambrough Over 70 years since Alan Turing and his Bletchley Park colleagues made history during World War II by figuring out the Nazis’ enigma machine, code breakers are set to return to the now famous site. The National College [...]
KPMG boss Simon Collins won’t be seeking re-election after five year tenure December 1, 2016 KPMG's UK boss will step down in March after five years at the helm of the accountancy giant. Simon Collins told fellow partners of his plans on Thursday and is expected to put his hat in the ring to step up and lead the global network of the firm, according to reports by Sky News. Read more: [...]
Bank of England stress tests are getting tougher – but do they still add value? December 1, 2016 The Bank of England 2016 stress test was the toughest to date, with a more severe scenario which incorporated a combination of both a UK and global recession. Combined with a higher pass mark, this created challenges for several institutions. All of the banks started the exercise in more robust shape with a lower risk [...]