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Accountancy Age
MERCER & HOLE administrators have been called to footwear retailer Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT). Chris Laughton and Peter Godfrey-Evans, partners at Mercer & Hole, have been appointed joint administrators to MBT after its parent company filed for bankruptcy in Switzerland. Masai has ten stores and various concessions throughout the UK and generates approximately £8m annually. Laughton and Godfrey-Evans will be working with the business's management and staff to sell...
Accountancy Age
REVENUES HAVE GROWN 12% at North-west accountancy firm Hurst. The firm's April 2012 year-end revenues climbed to £4.4m. It opened a London office last year, and added 53 clients. It was also a finalist in Accountancy Age's British Accountancy Awards 2011. "Growing turnover by half a million in what is still a challenging market is a major achievement," said Hurst managing partner Tim Potter. "There are lots of opportunities...
Accountancy Age
THE AUDIT PROFESSION has been overly defensive to criticisms levelled at it for its role in the financial crisis, according to the chief executive of the FRC. The audit market is currently facing a series of inquiries by lawmakers in the UK and Europe investigating the structure of the market, the relationship between auditors and financial service regulators, and the way going concern and liquidity issues are assessed. Speaking at the...
Accountancy Age
PROFITS AT CIMA FELL to half a million pounds in 2011, from £1.1m a year earlier. The management accounting institute posted £47.1m income for the year-ending 31 December 2011, from £43.4m a year earlier, which included a leap in member subs and exam income of £3.6m to £41.6m. However, costs ate into the increased revenues. Brand and business development expenditure climbed to £15.6m, from £14m. Member and student service costs were...
Accountancy Age
A HAMPSHIRE PLUMBER has been found guilty of tax evasion totalling some £112,000 over a 14-year period. Peter Mack, 59, of Ringwood set up a freelance plumbing business in 1997, but never registered his earning with HM Revenue & Customs. Enquiries made by HMRC found Mack had evaded approximately £88,000 in income tax and VAT plus interest, pushing the total up to £112,000. He was arrested at his home...
Accountancy Age
AN EMPLOYEE of the taxman has been arrested by detectives investigating corrupt payments made to public officials. The operation was initiated by information supplied News Corporation's management standards committee (MSC) which was set up in the wake of the phone hacking scandal that led to the closure of the News of the World last July, reports Press Association. A 50-year-old man was held on suspicion of misconduct in a public office...
Accountancy Age
RSM TENON will drop certain tax services due to the government's clampdown on tax avoidance. In the interim management statement for 1 January to 16 May the struggling listed accountancy firm announced that it will cull service lines in its specialist tax division due to chancellor George Osborne's recently introduced general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR). "Following the announcement of a general anti-avoidance rule in the recent UK government budget, we have decided...
Accountancy Age
ADMINISTRATORS HAVE SHUT just under half of Clinton Cards stores due to it being "burdened with an untenable real estate". Joint administrators from Zolfo Cooper have shut 350 stores from the 784 nationwide, and emply 2,800 staff. The closure programme begins on the week commencing 21 May and will continue into June. Locations of closed stores and number job losses will be confirmed shortly. Peter Saville, joint administrator and...
Accountancy Age
THE INCOMING PRESIDENT of the Chartered Institute of Taxation has expressed concerns over tax comparisons between Greece and the UK in both the media and public arena. Speaking at CIoT's annual general meeting in Westminster as he succeeds Anthony Thomas, Patrick Stevens said the tax system in Britain is far from broken and allowing the impression to take hold that it was dangerous. Drawing a contrast between the British and Greek...
Accountancy Age
THE INSOLVENCY REGULATOR is failing to address concerns about pre-pack administrations, said insolvency trade body R3. According to a report published by the government's Insolvency Service just 4% of reports relating to pre-packs (SIP 16s) were referred to practitioner licensing bodies. However, president of R3 Lee Manning warns that the regulator is more focussed on "technicalities" of compliance from reports, than seriously addressing concerns raised by creditors on the need for...
Accountancy Age
THE TAXMAN should have greater input in the formulation of tax policy, according to Treasury Select Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie MP. Speaking at the CIoT's Tax Advisers' Address in Westminster, Tyrie said he felt it was necessary to "beef up HMRC's policy-making role", adding "HMRC is blamed far too easily". HMRC's current role is solely to implement policy drawn up by the Treasury and has recently come under fire for mistakes...
Accountancy Age
A SURGE in corporate restructuring caused by the recession has put employer covenants at risk, Punter Southall Transaction Services has warned. More corporates are expected to default over 2012 and businesses such as Premier Foods, TUI Travel, JJB, Logica and Punch Tavern have already restructured in the difficult climate, the consultancy said. However, restructuring companies involves altering the legal status of various businesses within firms and can affect the ability of...
Accountancy Age
A SURGE in corporate restructuring caused by the recession has put employer covenants at risk, Punter Southall Transaction Services has warned. More corporates are expected to default over 2012 and businesses such as Premier Foods, TUI Travel, JJB, Logica and Punch Tavern have already restructured in the difficult climate, the consultancy said. However, restructuring companies involves altering the legal status of various businesses within firms and can affect the ability of...
Accountancy Age
FINES AGAINST INSOLVENCY PRACTITIONERS have increased by more than four times in the last year according to government statistics. In the latest report from the Insolvency Service, consent agreements and fines against insolvency practitioners increased to 19 in 2011 from four in 2010. There are seven regulators known as recognised professional bodies in the UK: ICAEW, IPA, ACCA, the Insolvency Service, ICAS, the Law Society and the Law Society of Scotland....
Accountancy Age
ERNST & YOUNG has stepped down as auditor of Pinewood Shepperton, following the film studio's acquisition. Deloitte, auditors of the film studio's new owner Peel Group, have replaced its fellow Big Four firm in the role. Finance director Patrick Garner stepped down from the studio last month after 11 years. Current financial controller Chris Naisby takes up the role. With the group in private hands, its share listing is...
Accountancy Age
EUROPEAN UNION countries have been told to get their public sector accounting in order by the ICAEW. According to the ICAEW, many EU member states have not got the capacity or capability to implement international reporting standards. The continued use of cash-based accounts is one of the greatest weaknesses of public sector finances, ICAEW says in its submission to Eurostat's consultation on whether International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) are suitable...
Accountancy Age
TIM HARRIS is the new group CFO specialty insurance provider Torus. Harris has more than 20 years' experience in financial and capital management, and joins after holding several senior roles at Aviva including deputy group CFO. Prior to joining Aviva, he was a partner in the global capital markets practice at PwC. Harris said: "From my early conversations with [chief executive Clive Tobin] and Torus management, it's been clear the company's...
Accountancy Age
MORE THAN 20 insolvency practitioners (IPs) were reported to their professional body because of non-compliance in pre-packs, a government shows. Following a review of compliance reports in pre-packs (SIP 16) the Insolvency Service reported 21 insolvency practitioners, which related to 29 companies, to their regulators. There are seven regulators known as recognised professional bodies (RPBs) in the UK: ICAEW, IPA, ACCA, the Insolvency Service, ICAS, the Law Society and the Law...
Accountancy Age
THE RISING NUMBER of green cars and other vehicles will leave a £13bn shortfall in motoring taxes by the end of the next decade, despite an expected 44% rise in traffic. The predictions were made by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent think tank, and based its analysis on the government's own forecasts, showing that by 2029, fuel duty will contribute 1.1% GDP, compared with 1.7% today. Fuel excise duty will fall...
Accountancy Age
THE UK CONSULTING INDUSTRY grew by 5% in 2011, brining fees back up to pre-crisis level, according to Management Consultancies Association statistics. The growth, driven by a slow-but-sure economic recovery, shows a "resilient bu agile industry", said MCA chief executive Alan Leaman (pictured). "It looks likely that the increased spending on consultancy services in 2011 by the private sector was an early sign of some improvement in wider economic prospects," said...
Accountancy Age
THE PROFESSION'S watchdog has sanctioned the finance director of listed air conditioning installer Worthington Nicholls, by taking away his license to practice as a chartered accountant. The former FD Timothy Hunt has been excluded by the ICAEW for six years after he was found to have produced "materially false and misleading" financial statements, The Financial Times reports. The ban is the second longest handed down by the disciplinary and investigations arm...
Accountancy Age
THE TAXMAN CLAIMS it is up to speed in meeting objectives to provide a better service. HM Revenue & Customs has made a Joint Understanding Agents Project statement, outlining its progress in improving its service delivery. The Revenue visited practitioners to understand service delivery from their viewpoint, while practitioners and charities reviewed HMRC's post-handling processes, the way in which bereavement cases were handled and repayment and PAYE coding issues. ...
Accountancy Age
BPP HAS WRESTED KPMG's training contract for ACAs from Kaplan. BPP will deliver the Big Four firm's ACA training programme, for 1,400 students, from autumn 2013. Kaplan has served as KPMG's provider for the past ten years. It will support the latest round of the firm's trainees through to next year. The firm said the multi-million pound contract award followed a "robust and challenging process". "The launch...
Accountancy Age
IT'S JUST A MONTH until the follow-up to last year's enormously successful Accountancy Age Best Practice Conference. Former BDO International chairman Jeremy Newman, who led the UK and international businesses through a fruitful period of expansion, gives our keynote address: Creating an Award-Winning Firm. This year's event also includes more of those valuable break-out sessions. Pitching to Win and Promoting from Within are just two of the sessions available. ACCA UK...
