Brussels wages war on big four September 26, 2011 RADICAL plans to force the UK’s biggest auditing firms to hive off their huge consultancy arms or ban them from cross-selling services to their clients have been tabled by European authorities, it emerged yesterday. The European Commission has set out new draft regulations to drastically curb the UK’s Big Four accountants Ernst & Young, PwC, [...]
Deloitte gets a boost from high revenues September 22, 2011 DELOITTE, the world’s largest accounting and consulting firm, said global revenue rose the most in three years in the 2011 fiscal year, helped by double-digit gains in advisory and consulting work. Deloitte’s member firms worldwide reported a record $28.8bn (£18.8bn) in revenue, up 8.4 per cent from 2010. In local currency terms, not accounting for [...]
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES | OF THE YEAR September 21, 2011 IAIN EVANS L.E.K. CONSULTING L.E.K. is a “wonderful British success story”, said the judges – it now competes with McKinsey, Bain and BCG from a standing start in 1983, over-delivering for its growing roster of private equity clients. SHORTLIST KPMG Ernst & Young Deloitte PwC
MEET THE JUDGES September 21, 2011 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M. Allister joined City A.M. as editor in early 2008. He chaired our panel of judges. SIR MARTIN SORRELL WPP Sir Martin is the co-founder and chief executive of WPP, the world’s largest communications company. SIMON MACKENZIE-SMITH BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH Simon is chairman of UK & Ireland corporate and [...]
China loses competitive edge as its wages climb September 16, 2011 LOW WAGES may have been the foundation of China’s economic boom, but its competitive advantage in the space is disappearing, according to a report from KPMG out yesterday. Other south and south-east Asian countries like Bangladesh and Indonesia are now significantly cheaper locations for manufacturing activities. After years of high growth, wages have increased – [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 13, 2011 AFC Energy The fuel cells developer has appointed Ian Williamson as chief executive and a director of the company, effective from 14 November. Williamson, who will be granted an option of one million ordinary shares when he joins the board, joins AFC Energy from Air Products, where he was most recently hydrogen and bio energy [...]
Delay banking reforms: BCC September 11, 2011 A LEADING business organisation has urged the government to prioritise growth over regulatory reform ahead of today’s publication of the final report from the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) John Longworth, the new director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said he accepted the “need to ensure our banking system is robust” but [...]
UK infrastructure bottleneck stifles investment and jobs September 8, 2011 TACKLING Britain’s crumbling infrastructure would create jobs and boost competitiveness at a critical moment, businesses said in a survey out today. But 98 per cent of 447 companies surveyed see the complexities of the current planning system as a barrier to infrastructure investment. Fifty-eight per cent of businesses think the UK’s infrastructure compares unfavourably against [...]
UK employment recovery could soon be at an end September 6, 2011 THE RECOVERY in UK job prospects could be running out of steam if the trend seen in August continues, according to a report out today. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG said the rise in vacancies brought by the economic recovery slowed through August. Pay levels are also suffering, with last month’s increases [...]
London firms want better transport September 4, 2011 LONDON’S next mayor should boost transport, fight unions and spend our taxes here, say businesses. Eight months ahead of the mayoral election, a survey of London companies, released today, has found enormous dissatisfaction with current tax, transport and industrial policies. Sixty per cent support a “strong line on public sector strikes”, 57 per cent think [...]