How London is leading the charge on a radical employee rent scheme February 5, 2015 Two years ago, Vodafone became one of the first big businesses to issue a warning over Britain’s housing costs. It said that the sheer cost of renting was making it harder for firms to attract talent. Within weeks, its concerns were echoed by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and KPMG’s London Business Survey. London’s [...]
Alpari administration: KPMG fails to find buyer as break up begins with 114 job losses and Andrey Dashin buying up assets February 5, 2015 Administrators for collapsed spreadbetter Alpari UK have failed to find a bidder for the firm and have begun to sell off its assets, resulting in the loss of 114 jobs. KPMG had sought to find a buyer for the currency trader, which collapsed after huge losses in January in the wake of the shock appreciation of the [...]
Business and older consumers: Turning silver into gold – Brand Index February 3, 2015 IN COLLABORATION with the consumer insights panel and KPMG, YouGov has published findings which explore the nature of an ageing population and the effect this could have on businesses. The report reveals it is high time businesses focused on the increasingly lucrative mature market. The image of older consumers should be reconsidered as should the [...]
Paying lip service to CSR won’t help companies recover lost public trust February 3, 2015 How companies play a part in society and are viewed by the communities they serve remains a crucial challenge for business leaders. Since the financial crisis, confidence that businesses will “do the right thing” has never been lower. Restoring that credibility should be high on the agenda for every leader today. Often, businesses will point [...]
KPMG and chief operating officer fined over ethical standards breach February 3, 2015 KPMG and its chief operating officer James Marsh have been fined by the Financial Reporting Council for breaching ethical standards The auditing firm and its executive were taken to tribunal over Marsh's failure to sell shares in Cable and Wireless Worldwide when he became a partner of KPMG in 2011. The telecoms giant, [...]
City Moves for 03 February 2015 | Who’s switching jobs February 2, 2015 HIG Capital Riccardo Dallolio has been appointed managing director and co-head of European real estate at the private equity investment firm. He previously worked at Axa RE, where he was head of alternatives and special situations, and has also held roles at JP Morgan and Grove International Partners. Coutts The private bank has announced the [...]
London airport expansion: Parties must pledge action now before we fall further behind February 2, 2015 Today, the Airports Commission’s public consultation on the three shortlisted proposals for airports expansion – which include a third runway at Heathrow, extending an existing Heathrow runway, or a second runway at Gatwick – at long last comes to an end. By the time Sir Howard Davies publishes his final recommendations later this year, we [...]
Balfour Beatty reveals £800m contract win from Thames Water February 2, 2015 Balfour Beatty has secured a major deal with Thames Water to maintain and install water infrastucture across the utility firm's network. The five-year project is a joint venture with Skanska and MWH Treatment (known as SMB). The contract as a whole is worth £800m and will be worth around £265m to Balfour Beatty. Once it has [...]
Failure to save is socially irresponsible: Only bold policies will fix this crisis February 1, 2015 PEOPLE are not saving enough. We hear that all the time and yet we ignore this uncomfortable truth and carry on with our daily lives. Only half of us have a pension scheme and, even allowing for other savings and investments, most of us have probably not put away enough, especially given the spiralling cost [...]
UK school league tables: City-backed Hackney Academy goes to top of the class as Eton, Harrow, Winchester and St Paul’s fall January 29, 2015 Some of the top names in UK education have seen their positions in league tables plummet, after a change in how they are calculated. Eton, Harrow, Winchester and St Paul’s all received zero per cent against the government’s new benchmark of five good GCSEs including English and maths – because pupils at those coveted schools [...]