Thomson Local bought out of administration August 15, 2013 DIRECTORY services brand Thomson Local was bought out of administration by two serial entrepreneurs yesterday. Thomson Local, which sends out 22m copies of its UK business directory and maintains several websites, appointed Grant Thornton as administrator on Wednesday, following several tough years. The Hampshire-based firm posted a net loss of £732,000 for 2011, [...]
British extended warranty firm sold to CVC Partners for £750m August 13, 2013 PRIVATE equity firm CVC Capital Partners yesterday bought Domestic & General (D&G), a provider of extended warranties, from rival Advent International in a deal thought to be worth around £750m. D&G offers breakdown cover on household appliances such as television and white goods and claims to have 15m customers producing sales of over £600m a year. Rather than [...]
US auditors told to include more detail in reports August 13, 2013 AMERICA’S accountancy watchdog has voted to bring in sweeping new rules on audits for listed companies. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, set up in the wake of the Enron scandal, said yesterday auditors should go beyond the current practice of giving just three boilerplate paragraphs of opinion alongside a pass or fail mark. The [...]
Jobs growth rate hits 6-year high August 7, 2013 THE NUMBER of jobs available in the UK has risen at its highest rate in six years according to new research from KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). The data also showed permanent staff appointments increasing at their fastest rate in three years. In a further boost to confidence, REC chief executive Kevin [...]
Canary Wharf move for KPMG August 6, 2013 MORE than a thousand KPMG staff are moving from the City to Canary Wharf under the accountancy firm’s plan to bring its London staff together. The firm will vacate its Salisbury Square office when the lease expires in 2015 and shift its City workers to eight floors in 30 North Colonnade, close to its existing [...]
Our retail industry has a bright future – but it must adapt to survive August 6, 2013 A ROW of boarded up shops is not how we want our high street to look. But since the beginning of the recession, a high number of retail casualties have been claimed – great stalwarts of the high street like Woolworths and HMV among them. Despite flickering hopes of economic recovery, it is unlikely that [...]
MF Global’s UK creditors enjoy extra payouts August 5, 2013 UNSECURED British creditors of the collapsed derivatives broker MF Global will receive their first payments later this year, it was announced yesterday. The company, led by former US senator Jon Corzine, went bust in October 2011 after encountering serious liquidity problems following a series of regulatory fines and disastrous investments in European bonds. “Returning funds will feel like [...]
HSBC shakes up auditors for first time in over two decades replacing KPMG with PwC August 2, 2013 HSBC has announced that it will be switching its current auditor KPMG for PricewaterhouseCoopers for the year ended 31 December 2015 (release). The change will be recommended to shareholders at HSBC's 2015 AGM. KPMG will continue to undertake the audit of the bank's consolidated accounts for the year ended 31 December 2013, and subject to [...]
BAE up on Saudi hope August 1, 2013 SHARES in BAE Systems yesterday climbed to near the top of the FTSE 100, as the defence firm shrugged off a six per cent decrease in half-year earnings by signalling that it is close to sealing a long-awaited Saudi deal. The firm has been embroiled in pricing negotiations with Saudi Arabia over the purchase of [...]
City Moves for 2 August 2013 | Who’s switching jobs August 1, 2013 Thomas Cook The travel group has announced the appointment of Sandra Campopiano as chief people officer. She joins from Premier Farnell, where she was chief people officer for six years. KPMG The professional services firm has made three hires to its tax litigation practice. Amanda Brown has been appointed overall head of tax litigation. She [...]