Stobart picks KPMG for audit September 25, 2012 LOGISTICS business Stobart Group, the company behind the iconic Eddie Stobart lorries, yesterday appointed KPMG as its new auditors, ending a decade long relationship with the incumbent Ernst & Young. The Carlisle-based lorry firm, listed on the FTSE 250, appointed KPMG Audit after it beat off Ernst & Young and another unidentified professional services firm [...]
JJB Sports calls time as it hires administrators September 25, 2012 AILING retailer JJB Sports yesterday confirmed it will appoint administrators after failing to receive an offer for the entire company, putting up to 4,000 jobs at risk. Shares in the group – which were worth a total of as much as £1bn a decade ago – were suspended yesterday and remaining investors, including US tycoon [...]
Watchdog says no signs yet of audit collusion September 24, 2012 THE COMPETITION Commission said its probe of the country’s market for company audits had not uncovered any evidence so far of collusion among the Big Four accounting firms over market share. Yesterday’s paper is the watchdog’s first comments of substance since it formally launched its investigation last year, with preliminary findings due in November. The [...]
JJB’s sale faces scrutiny of the retail watchdog September 23, 2012 SPORTS Direct’s proposed takeover of JJB Sports’ 180 stores is likely to come under investigation by the competition watchdog once the acquisition has already taken place. The sportswear giant founded by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley remains one of the frontrunners to buy the struggling retailer, although it is said to be interested in less [...]
Retail sales slump in August September 20, 2012 UK retail sales fell in August as consumers stayed at home to watch the Olympics rather than spending on the high street, official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed today. Overall sales fell 0.2 per cent over the month, although year-on-year, the ONS recorded an annual rise of 2.7 per cent. Non-store [...]
Who’s switching jobs September 19, 2012 Canaccord Genuity The broker has appointed Peter O’Malley as chief executive of Canaccord Genuity Asia. He joins from Kenosis Capital Partners, where he was chief executive and founder. O’Malley has previously worked at Deutsche Bank as a managing director, and has also held senior roles at HSBC. Mizuho International The London-based securities and investment banking [...]
JJB carve up set to give the lion’s share to Sports Direct September 16, 2012 THE SALE of doomed sports retailer JJB is set to be completed early this week, with the biggest slice of the firm’s 180 UK stores to go to Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct. Sources close to the deal said last night that the sale to Sports Direct, being handled by KPMG, was nearing completion although talks [...]
Firms claim they are held back by lack of infrastructure action September 16, 2012 BRITAIN’S transport network, energy system and water infrastructure are all likely to stagnate rather than improve, a new business survey shows today, despite the government’s claims that it wants to boost the sector. Investment in the UK may be hit as a result – the study from the CBI and KPMG shows 61 per cent [...]
Who’s switching jobs September 13, 2012 Arbuthnot Latham Linda Amili Clack has been appointed to the position of international banking director and head of Middle East private banking. She was most recently head of Mubarakia Limited Family Office. Amili Clack has over 30 years’ experience in banking, and has also held senior roles at Coutts and the Bank of Bahrain & [...]
What the other papers say this morning September 10, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Risky groups face outsourcing ban The performance of troubled Olympics contractor G4S will be reviewed “very carefully”, the Cabinet Office has warned, in a shake-up of outsourcing contracts across government that has already seen two IT companies struck off its list for future tenders. The department’s decision to look at G4S’s record comes [...]