Retail sales back to growth in May as warmer weather encourages spending June 7, 2016 Retail sales picked up in May as consumers took to the internet to start their summer splurge. Sales grew by 1.4 per cent in the UK retail industry, following two months of flat-lining, in a welcome, if modest, boost to the struggling industry, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Once again, however, sales growth was driven [...]
Financial Reporting Council launches KPMG probe over additional services provided while it audited Ted Baker June 6, 2016 The accountancy watchdog has today announced an investigation into KPMG Audit over its handling of its additional services provided to Ted Baker. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has said it will be examining how the big four firm complied with ethical standards relating to providing non-audit services while it was auditing the retailer. The periods concerned [...]
A family affair: How Ben and Ollie Black built their childcare empire June 6, 2016 Two minutes with the Black brothers and Laurel and Hardy come up. “You know, ‘another fine mess you’ve got me into’,” says Oliver Black, describing how he initially conceived of working with his brother. “I spent Christmas trying to convince Ollie that I knew about buying a company,” says Ben Black. The pair bought failing childcare [...]
Blackout risk if subsidies for small diesel generators are scrapped June 2, 2016 Britain could be more vulnerable to future blackouts if Ofgem recommends scrapping subsidies for highly polluting small diesel generators. Big four accountancy firm KPMG said if this became law it would threaten the construction of these, as well as less polluting gas plants, which are already in the pipeline due to the subsidies awarded the government's "capacity market" [...]
Why leaving the EU will undermine London’s global competitiveness June 2, 2016 London is at the forefront of the huge changes buffeting our society and our economy, as we confront and cope with the realities of globalisation. India and China, and the emerging economies of Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Brazil and others, are overturning Europe’s traditional dominance. In Africa, Senegal, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia all had growth [...]
Companies are failing to use technology to fight fraud, KPMG research warns June 1, 2016 Companies are failing to use technology in the fight against fraud, one of the big four accounting firms has warned. New research from KPMG has found that technology is the Achilles heel in the fight against fraud, with only three per cent of companies successfully using data analytics to detect fraud. Meanwhile, it says, a quarter of fraudsters [...]
JP Morgan Cazenove loses its long-standing lead over Bank of America Merrill Lynch in FTSE 100 stockbroking stakes May 31, 2016 JP Morgan Cazenove has lost its long-held position as the top stockbroker for FTSE 100 companies. The bank's crown has been taken by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, new figures from Adviser Rankings show. JP Morgan Cazenove has topped the FTSE 100 rankings every year since Adviser Rankings began compiling the list as part of its [...]
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy named the highest paid director in the Premier League last season May 26, 2016 Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has been named the highest paid director in the Premier League last season in an analysis of all 20 teams' accounts. Financial reports for the 2014/15 season have been disclosed by every team in last season's competition, revealing the 54-year-old was paid £2.6m by the club as Spurs finished fifth in [...]
Manchester United named most valuable club in the world but must win trophies with Jose Mourinho to stay at the top May 26, 2016 Manchester United have been named the joint-most valuable football club in the world, but have been warned that incoming manager Jose Mourinho will need to improve results if they want to remain top of the pile. Both United and Real Madrid are estimated to be worth £2.1bn in a report published today by accountancy giant KPMG [...]
Fraud reaching “epidemic” levels, costing the UK economy more than £6,000 per second or almost £200bn a year May 25, 2016 Fraud is costing the UK economy nearly £200bn per year – or more than £6,000 per second – with businesses being the biggest targets, a report out today has discovered. The study discovered that the private sector was losing roughly £144bn of the £193bn total lost to fraud every year. In particular, procurement fraud, such as issuing fake invoices and [...]