Bean counters meet at old fish market for accountancy gongs November 22, 2012 FORMER Deloitte partner and ex-BAA chief financial officer Margaret Ewing picked up the outstanding industry contribution gong at the British Accountancy Awards in Billingsgate on Wednesday night. Accounting giants KPMG won global firm of the year, Johnston Carmichael won national firm of the year, while mid-tier firm of the year was Cooper Parry. KPMG’s Raylene [...]
New help for zombie firms as debts bite November 21, 2012 LLOYDS hopes it can save tens of millions of pounds by sending in turnaround experts to combat the horde of zombie firms plaguing the economy and bank balance sheets. But KPMG yesterday warned that thousands of struggling firms could starve to death, running out of cash over the next year if the economy does not [...]
Mothercare hires Argos finance boss to help with turnaround November 21, 2012 MOTHERCARE has hired the finance director of Argos to help the struggling retailer with its transformation plans. Matt Smith, a former KPMG director who has spent 10 years at Argos parent firm Home Retail Group, will join the firm at a date yet to be announced. Mothercare has stepped up its fight to halt declining [...]
UK technology darling’s rocky road to HP deal November 20, 2012 WHEN Autonomy was sold to Hewlett-Packard (HP) for $11bn (£6.9bn) in October 2011, the deal was hailed as a defining moment for Cambridge’s technology scene and chief Mike Lynch was made a poster boy for British entrepreneurship. But seven months later, Lynch was out of HP, fired by the US giant’s new boss Meg Whitman. [...]
HP’s staggering accusations drag in City’s largest firms November 20, 2012 THIS paper does its best to avoid editorial hyperbole, but when a firm takes an $8.8bn writedown on an $11bn acquisition barely 12 months after the deal I might just make an exception. It’s completely flabbergasting. Analysts and shareholders alike may have baulked at the steep price that Hewlett-Packard shelled out for UK tech darling [...]
Rapid responses November 20, 2012 Practical pensions [Re: The Ostrich Generation, yesterday] I imagine that one of the main reasons young people are not placing much faith in the future of their pensions is their lack of confidence and certainty about the future more generally. If someone is in their mid-20s, three or four decades is a long way ahead. [...]
Who’s switching jobs November 19, 2012 Smith & Nephew Julie Brown has been appointed chief financial officer at the medical technology business. She joins from AstraZeneca, where she was vice president for group finance and interim chief financial officer. Brown was at AstraZeneca for 25 years, and previously qualified as a chartered accountant at KPMG. Natixis Global Asset Management The asset [...]
More revolts over executive pay are looming November 18, 2012 SHAREHOLDERS could be waiting until 2013 or 2014 to voice dissent at companies’ executive pay packets, according to research out yesterday. While a string of high-profile investor rebellions at the likes of WPP and Aviva has caused a stir this year, shareholders have been discerning in their protests. Just 10 of the FTSE 100 companies [...]
Lawyers now expected to give commercial and legal advice November 18, 2012 LAWYERS are increasingly being called on to make commercial decisions because of the growing tide of regulations, a new study reveals. A report from KPMG, out today, shows the views of 320 in-house general counsel in 32 countries on issues including relationships with the board, the risk of regulatory challenges and managing future disputes. It [...]
City figures say homophobia is still a problem at London firms November 14, 2012 GAY employees at City firms still have to deal with homophobia in the workplace, according to leading executives. A new advocacy group named Out On The Street has been launched to combat the problem, with a range of successful gay businesspeople saying prejudice is still a problem. Lord Browne, who was forced to resign as [...]