Auditors are told to get tough with banks on loss provisions May 28, 2014 AUDITORS for British banks and building societies are not scrutinising the firms’ books closely enough, despite repeated warnings that auditors should have caught some of the warning signs ahead of the 2008 financial crisis, a watchdog said yesterday. The Financial Reporting Council flagged up poor testing of loan impairment models and a widespread reluctance among [...]
Rise in jobs for grads fuelling boom in hiring May 27, 2014 BIG GRADUATE recruiters are boosting hiring programmes even further this year, with vacancies up by more than a third, and many firms saying they are yet to fill positions for this year’s intake. Figures from jobs site Adzuna today show vacancies for graduates up 37 per cent from 2012. And though there is still fierce [...]
The stiff competition facing Royal Mail May 21, 2014 Ahead of its first set of full-year results as a listed company tomorrow, Royal Mail’s announced it’s going to trial delivering parcels on Sundays. Later this summer, it’ll open about 100 offices on Sunday afternoons for customers to pick up parcels. It’ll also pilot delivering parcels within the M25; and from June, Parcelforce Worldwide, its [...]
Bunzl ditches KPMG as auditor May 20, 2014 Distribution and outsourcing firm Bunzl yesterday said it had dropped KPMG as its auditor and hired PwC in its place. The FTSE 100-listed company said in last year’s annual report that it intended to hire a new auditor, to comply with good governance practice, following KPMG’s tenure as auditor that has spanned almost three decades. [...]
Labour plans new low pay rules based on average hourly wages May 19, 2014 LABOUR leader Ed Miliband will today announce plans to change the way the statutory minimum wage is determined and basing it on average hourly earnings. Miliband says that, if his party gained power, Labour would set the Low Pay Commission a five-year target to increase the rate to a set percentage of median hourly pay. [...]
City Moves for 16 May 2014 | Who’s switching jobs May 15, 2014 Fujitsu The technology company has announced the appointment of Michael Keegan as head of UK and Ireland. He has previously held senior leadership roles at Magex, MasterCard, Royal Mail Group and NatWest. KPMG The professional services firm has made four senior appointments to its cyber security practice. Phillip Hodgins has over 12 years’ experience helping executives [...]
City Moves for 15 May 2014 | Who’s switching jobs May 14, 2014 Deloitte Real Estate Deloitte Real Estate has appointed two senior consultants to its real estate sustainability team. Jack Wang (right) specialises in building energy data analytics and modelling, strategy and management. He joins from the National Energy Foundation. Nick Hogg has over seven years’ property sustainability experience, and previously worked in the upstream sustainability services [...]
Enterprise nation’s Emma Jones runs through the support available to SMEs May 14, 2014 SMALL businesses have competitive advantage in developing new products and embracing technology at speed. A number of support programmes – delivered by government and large corporates – offer space, connections, funds and advice on how to integrate technologies into the business, or to get your own innovations to market. Growth Vouchers – access up to [...]
Retailers cheer as Easter buyers flock to shops May 12, 2014 SHOPPERS flooded back to high streets and shopping centres this April, with sales surging during the late start to Easter, according to a major trade group. This mornings’s figures on retail sales from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG show a 5.7 per cent jump in spending last month, when compared to the same [...]
City Moves for 12 May 2014 | Who’s switching jobs May 11, 2014 Shepherd and Wedderburn Financial The financial advisory firm has announced the appointment of Sarah Tory as a financial adviser. She joins from Origen Private Client Solutions, where she was a consultant. KPMG The professional services firm has made two appointments. Richard Gostling joins its executive management team as head of sectors. He was most recently [...]