For accountants, qualifications are a matter of taste September 22, 2010 WHEN they get their first job, many accountants worry that they will be pigeon-holed by their qualification. ACA is seen as the City gold standard in some quarters, and those who aren’t offered it might worry that their ambition of becoming a FTSE 100 CEO will be thwarted. On the other hand, ACCA is a [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 15, 2010 Jefferies The investment bank has appointed Julian Smith from Collins Stewart as its new head of UK corporate broking. Smith has over 16 years of corporate broking and equity experience. In addition to his role as a managing director at Collins Stewart, he previously spent 15 years at Dresdner Kleinwort in corporate broking and equity [...]
KPMG sells Connaught contracts September 13, 2010 HOUSING support services firm Mears has taken over eight of stricken peer Connaught’s jobs and 600 workers, auditor KPMG said yesterday, leaving rivals to fight for the handful of remaining contracts. Mears acquired the work for a nominal sum from auditor KPMG, a company spokesperson confirmed yesterday, and will now speak to customers and Connaught [...]
Big four accountants warned by FRC to improve on audits September 13, 2010 THE FOUR largest accountancy firms need to improve the quality of audit services, a body within the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has warned. A report into the auditing practices of the “big four” accountancy firms, including Deloitte, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and KPMG, found that in three cases KPMG had signed off on audits [...]
Predators circle £200m remains of Connaught September 12, 2010 CONNAUGHT’S surviving businesses could be sold for up to £200m after repairs specialist Mears and construction firm Morgan Sindell carved up its social housing arm. Administrator KPMG has received a flurry of offers for Connaught’s compliance and environmental divisions, which are trading as normal. Mears, property consultancy RPS Group and outsourcing group Mitie are understood [...]
Morgan Sindall claims the first Connaught job September 9, 2010 CONSTRUCTION group Morgan Sindall struck a deal with Connaught’s administrator KPMG to acquire the bulk of its social housing repair operations last night, according to several people close to the agreement. Morgan Sindall is set to announce the coup to the stock market today, in a move that will secure jobs for around 2,500 of [...]
KPMG looks to hand over Connaught jobs September 8, 2010 HOUSING repair firm Connaught formally appointed KPMG as its administrator yesterday, as rival property companies looked to take over the collapsed firm’s contracts. KPMG will keep the firm’s property maintenance arm trading until it has farmed out its contracts to other providers. Around 4,400 people face redundancy. Richard Heis, joint administrator, said the group had [...]
GT reveals non-executives September 8, 2010 GRANT Thornton (GT) has become the first large accounting firm to comply with new governance rules by revealing its new non-executives. The three non-executives are Richard Eyre, chairman of the Eden Project; Caroline Goodall, a consultant to law firm Herbert Smith; and Ed Warner chairman of UK Athletics. The UK’s biggest eight audit firms – [...]
Connaught in administration September 7, 2010 TROUBLED social housing repair firm Connaught put most of its business into administration yesterday, after its lenders refused to further fund the company. The FTSE 250 component said last night that its public sector business will be put into the hands of administrators KPMG, though its environment and compliance arms will remain in operation. The [...]
Growth in UK jobs weakens as doubts over recovery hit September 7, 2010 BRITAIN’S struggling job market continued to suffer in August with the number of permanent appointments rising at the slowest rate since October 2009, against a gloomy backdrop of public sector layoffs and downbeat business confidence. The monthly survey conducted by professional services firm KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) showed that the number [...]