Blacks to put itself through CVA September 27, 2009 Blacks Leisure Group, the outdoor goods retailer, is intending to go through a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) to secure its survival. The move would include cutting around 400 jobs, and losing 80 of its 400 Blacks, Millets and Free Spirit stores. KPMG will lead the CVA process as Blacks looks to secure its future.
HORSES FOR COURSES FOR CITY RACING SET September 22, 2009 IT SEEMS barely a moment since the end of the horseracing season, but the City is already gearing up for the bevy of racehorse auction sales coming up over the next few weeks, starting with the Goffs Orby Sale in Ireland next week. Racing buffs might recall that sellers at the spring sales teamed up [...]
The British economy needs kid glove treatment September 16, 2009 The collapse in UK output seems to have run its course and activity is now stabilising, but what sort of recovery can we expect? Recent evidence on the economy has been mixed. On the positive side, the latest KPMG/REC Report on Jobs found that permanent and temporary staff appointments rose in August for the first [...]
Ex KPMG exec jailed for fraud September 15, 2009 A FORMER KPMG finance director who stole over £500,000 to fund his wife’s lavish lifestyle was yesterday sentenced to four years in jail. Andrew Wetherall, 49, started to abuse the global accountancy firm’s expenses scheme in 2002 after his wife’s previous partner reduced maintenance payments. Wetherall claims he was driven to crime by fears his [...]
Fee bonanza for Treasury APS advisers September 14, 2009 INVESTMENT banking and legal advisers have picked up £26.5m for their work advising the government on its Asset Protection Scheme (APS), according to data released by the Treasury under the Freedom of Information Act. Bankers from investment banks Citigroup, Credit Suisse and asset manager BlackRock have been working with the Treasury’s Financial Stability Unit in [...]
Top-flight clubs approve tougher financial rules September 14, 2009 CLUBS could be banned from making transfers if the Premier League judges them to be in danger of falling into administration, under sweeping financial changes announced yesterday. The new rules, which were agreed by top-flight chairmen this week and are already in effect, require clubs to submit annual audited accounts and future financial plans. If [...]
TOP THINK-TANK: RECESSION OVER September 8, 2009 BRITAIN’S economy has finally started to grow again, according to data published yesterday by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), one of the UK’s most respected forecasters. The NIESR figures showed that GDP rose by an estimated 0.2 per cent in the three months to August, the first time it has risen [...]
Lehman fee gives boost to PwC revenue September 6, 2009 THE worldwide accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers saw its revenues creep up by less than half a per cent over the past year, thanks to a strong performance from its advisory business in turbulent economic conditions. Its results were boosted by £100m in revenues from the administration of Lehman Brothers’ European arm, after the bank failed last [...]
Why holding its nerve has paid off for Britain’s top accountancy firm September 6, 2009 LOOKING out of the window of his Embankment office, Ian Powell points at the sky above the London Eye. “It’s a bit cloudy,” he says. “But there’s sun on the horizon.” The same could be said of the outlook for PricewaterhouseCoopers, the largest of the “big four” professional services firms, which Powell has chaired since [...]
City academy can boost prospects of those most in need September 6, 2009 THE City Academy Hackney, sponsored by the City Corporation and KPMG, opened its doors to 220 pupils last week. The opening took place just two days after a City report presented a scenario that suggested a further 35,000 financial services jobs could be lost by the end of 2009. This begs the question of what [...]