Liberal think tank says HS2 may not be best way to spend £50bn September 17, 2013 POLITICIANS should reconsider whether High Speed 2 (HS2) is the best way to spend £50bn, according to a think tank closely associated with the Liberal Democrats. CentreForum’s Quentin Maxwell-Jackson, a former senior partner at KPMG, yesterday warned that the case for continuing with the project – which has been dogged by criticism over this summer [...]
City Moves for 18 September 2013 | Who’s switching jobs September 17, 2013 KPMG The professional services firm has announced the appointment of Sean Randall as head of its UK stamp taxes group. Randall spent the past eight years at Deloitte, where he specialised in stamp taxes. JP Morgan Private Bank Antoine Massoud has joined the private bank as a senior banker in its Middle East banking team. [...]
Coalition urged to dig deeper on infrastructure September 15, 2013 BUSINESSES want the government to work harder on getting big infrastructure projects off the ground, a poll of more than 500 firms out today shows. Company bosses are losing confidence in the coalition’s ideas for upgrading roads, railways and energy networks, with just 35 per cent now believing the upgrades will have a positive effect [...]
Imperial to replace long standing finance chief September 12, 2013 IMPERIAL Tobacco has appointed the former vice chairman of KPMG as its new financial chief. Oliver Tant will step into the role on 5 November working alongside his predecessor, Bob Dyrbus, until he steps down on 31 December. Chairman of Imperial Tobacco Iain Napier said on Tant’s appointment, “He joins us with a proven track [...]
KPMG: Piecemeal changes to capital rules could increase risk September 11, 2013 CHAOTIC changes to banks’ capital rules could mean that instead of ending lenders’ worries over Basel 3 regulations, the sector could be heading for another round of negotiations, KPMG said yesterday. The rules were intended to be a global plan to banking safer. But regulators from the US, EU, UK and more have tweaked the [...]
Battle lines drawn over HS2 rail link September 10, 2013 New report claims line will boost UK’s economy by £15bn …but critics remain unconvinced MINISTERS will today launch a fightback in support of the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway project – as a government-commissioned KPMG report claims the project would boost the UK economy by £15bn a year. Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin will use a major [...]
Firms steering clear of deals in newer markets September 8, 2013 COMPANIES have shied away from making takeover bids in emerging markets so far this year, as part of the wider slump in global mergers and acquisitions, research published today suggests. The number of bids for targets in high-growth economies from firms in developed nations fell 23 per cent on the same period a year ago [...]
Business groups want action on infrastructure September 5, 2013 BUSINESS groups rallied around Sir John Armitt’s call to set out long-term spending on infrastructure yesterday, though the Treasury insisted that it is already making headway on major projects. The former Olympics boss recommended a new independent commission to take the politics out of the long-term oversight of roads, rail and engineering schemes. The British [...]
LSE gunning for first tech IPO on new platform September 3, 2013 AS LONDON gears up for the first floats on the new High Growth Segment, experts in fast-growing firms have said that a handful of extra analysts and investors could enable the platform to rival the Nasdaq for technology listings. A growing number of tech companies are being courted by the HGS, which was launched by [...]
Long summer boosts August retail sales September 2, 2013 UK RETAIL sales continued their strong run in August after the summer heatwave helped sales smash expectations the previous month. Total sales increased by 3.6 per cent in value last month compared with a year ago, when sales were up 1.6 per cent, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG released [...]